Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

busman's holiday

/ˌbʌsmənz ˈhɑləˌdeɪ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.34 in modern English

Syllables
bus-man’s hol-i-day
IPA
/ˌbʌsmənz ˈhɑləˌdeɪ/
25
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
4
Syllables
12
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A holiday or vacation during which one does something similar to what one does as work.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From busman + -’s + holiday, from the idea that a bus driver, to go off on a holiday, would take an excursion by bus or go on a long drive and thereby engage in a similar activity to his work.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˌbʌsmənz ˈhɑləˌdeɪ/
  • British English: /ˌbʌsmənz ˈhɒlɪdeɪ/

Inflected Forms

Frequently Paired Words

Questions

How do you pronounce busman's holiday?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˌbʌsmənz ˈhɑləˌdeɪ/.
What does busman's holiday mean?
A holiday or vacation during which one does something similar to what one does as work.
Where does busman's holiday come from?
From busman + -’s + holiday, from the idea that a bus driver, to go off on a holiday, would take an excursion by bus or go on a long drive and thereby engage in a similar activity to his work.

How to pronounce busman's holiday

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “busman's holiday”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌbʌsmənz ˈhɑləˌdeɪ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “busman's holiday”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “busman's holiday” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.