busy

busy — adjective

1. spending your time and energy on a task right now, so that your mind and hands a

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

spending your time and energy on a task right now, so that your mind and hands are fully on it.

Example

Maya is busy painting her bedroom wall a soft yellow.

busy + -ing verb showing current activity

Please don't bother Dad — he's busy with the tax forms.

busy with + noun for the focus of attention

Common collocations
  • busy doing something
  • busy with something
  • keep someone busy
  • too busy to talk
Synonyms
  • occupied

    more formal; often used in writing

  • engaged

    formal; common in 'engaged in [activity]'

  • absorbed

    stresses deep mental focus, not just being active

Antonyms
  • idle

    doing nothing, often with a slight negative tone

  • free

    not occupied with any task right now

Grammar Patterns

busy + -ing verb

busy with + noun

Usage Note

Almost always followed by an -ing form or by 'with' + noun when you want to say WHAT the person is doing. Without that complement, the meaning shifts toward sense 2 (no free time).

Common Mistakes

I am busy to write my report.
I am busy writing my report.
after 'busy', use the -ing form, not the to-infinitive.
She is busy in cook dinner.
She is busy cooking dinner.' / 'She is busy with dinner.
no preposition before the -ing form.

2. having so many things on your schedule that you cannot meet, talk, or take on mo

2.adjectiveA2
Definition

having so many things on your schedule that you cannot meet, talk, or take on more, even if you want to.

Example

Sorry, Marcus is too busy to come to the phone right now.

too busy + to-infinitive for refusal

I'm really busy this Friday — can we have lunch next week instead?

Common collocations
  • too busy to
  • busy this week
  • busy at the moment
  • really busy
Synonyms
  • unavailable

    neutral and clear, but slightly more formal

  • tied up

    informal idiom; suggests temporary blockage by other tasks

Antonyms
  • free

    having time available for the activity

  • available

    ready and willing to be contacted or to help

Grammar Patterns

too busy to + verb

busy + this week / today

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: here 'busy' stands alone or is followed by 'too busy to + verb', not by an -ing form. The focus is on UNAVAILABILITY for something new, not on what you are doing now.

Common Mistakes

I'm busy for help you tomorrow.
I'm too busy to help you tomorrow.
use 'too busy to + verb' for declining.

3. describing a street, shop, station, or other place where many people, cars, or t

3.adjectiveA1
Definition

describing a street, shop, station, or other place where many people, cars, or things are moving around at the same time.

Example

Taipei Main Station gets really busy on Friday evenings before holidays.

busy + [place noun] showing crowd movement

The little café sits on a busy corner near the night market.

Common collocations
  • busy street
  • busy road
  • busy market
  • busy station
  • busy airport
Synonyms
  • crowded

    stresses the number of people, not the movement

  • bustling

    more literary; suggests lively, energetic movement

Antonyms
  • quiet

    few people or little activity in the place

  • deserted

    completely empty of people

Grammar Patterns

a busy + [place noun]

Usage Note

Subject is typically a place, road, station, market, or shop — not a person. Compare with senses 1 and 2, where the subject is a person.

Common Mistakes

The market was busy of people.
The market was busy.' / 'The market was full of people.
'busy' already includes the idea of many people; don't add 'of people'.

4. describing a day, week, month, or season that is packed with appointments, jobs,

4.adjectiveA2
Definition

describing a day, week, month, or season that is packed with appointments, jobs, or events from start to finish.

Example

December is always a busy month for the post office in Taiwan.

busy + [time noun] for packed periods

After a busy week at school, the children slept until lunchtime on Saturday.

Common collocations
  • busy day
  • busy week
  • busy month
  • busy season
  • busy schedule
Synonyms
  • hectic

    stronger; suggests stressful and almost out of control

  • packed

    informal; emphasises the schedule is full of items

Antonyms
  • quiet

    of a period: with few events or customers

  • slow

    common for shops or seasons with little business

Grammar Patterns

a busy + [time noun]

Usage Note

Subject is a period of time. Distinguish from sense 1 (person doing something) and sense 3 (place full of movement). The same time word can pair with several adjectives — compare 'a busy week' (full of tasks) with 'a long week' (felt slow).

5. of a telephone line: already carrying another call, so a new caller cannot get t

5.adjectiveB1
Definition

of a telephone line: already carrying another call, so a new caller cannot get through and hears a repeating tone.

Example

I tried calling Grandma three times, but the line was busy.

the line + be + busy for in-use phone

Every time Jamal rang the clinic, he got a busy signal.

collocation: busy signal (American English)

Common collocations
  • busy signal
  • busy tone
  • the line is busy
  • the number is busy
Synonyms
  • engaged

    British equivalent for the same telephone meaning

Antonyms
  • free

    the line is not in use; a call can go through

Grammar Patterns

the line is busy

a busy signal / busy tone

Usage Note

Mainly American. British speakers usually say 'engaged' for a phone line in use. Subject must be the phone, line, or number — not the caller.

Common Mistakes

I was busy on the phone, so you could not call me.
My line was busy, so you could not get through.
for this sense, the LINE is busy, not the person.

6. of a pattern, design, or image: packed with so many shapes, colours, or small pa

6.adjectiveC1
Definition

of a pattern, design, or image: packed with so many shapes, colours, or small parts that the eye cannot rest and the result feels noisy.

Example

The wallpaper in the hallway is far too busy for such a small room.

negative aesthetic judgement: too busy

Designers warn that a busy logo is hard to read on a phone screen.

Common collocations
  • busy pattern
  • busy design
  • busy background
  • too busy
Synonyms
  • cluttered

    stresses things piled together with no order

  • fussy

    informal; suggests over-decorated and old-fashioned

Antonyms
  • plain

    without extra decoration or pattern

  • minimal

    designed with very few elements on purpose

Grammar Patterns

a busy + [design noun]

Usage Note

Almost always negative or critical in tone. Subject is a visual thing: pattern, design, page, image, room, outfit. Often paired with 'too' or 'a bit'.

Common Mistakes

The poster is busy because it has many people in it.
The poster looks busy because of all the bright colours and small text.
sense 6 is about visual design, not the number of people pictured.
Idioms

as busy as a bee

idiom

working very hard and constantly moving from one small task to the next, often in a cheerful way.

Grandma was as busy as a bee in the kitchen the morning before the wedding.

keep someone busy

idiom

to give a person enough things to do so that they have no spare time to feel bored or to think about something else.

Three small children certainly keep Maya busy from morning until night.

keep (yourself) busy

idiom

To stay active by doing many tasks or activities.

Maya keeps herself busy with gardening and painting.

Did Diego keep busy while you were away?

busy — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All five words say a person's attention is currently taken up, but the flavour differs. 'Busy' is the everyday choice and points to visible activity — hands and feet are moving on a task. 'Occupied' is more neutral and slightly more formal; it works well in writing and for things as well as people ('the seat is occupied'). 'Engaged' sounds formal and is common in fixed phrases like 'engaged in research' or, in British English, for a phone line. 'Absorbed' shifts the focus inward: the mind is deep inside the task and the person may not notice anything else. 'Preoccupied' adds a worried tone — the mind is busy with a problem rather than a job. So you might say 'Maya is busy painting' (action), 'Maya is absorbed in her novel' (deep focus), and 'Maya seems preoccupied today' (worried thoughts).

busy ↗occupiedengaged ↗absorbedpreoccupied

Common collocations

Nouns

  • busy schedule
  • busy life
  • busy parent
  • busy professional

Adverbs

  • really busy
  • extremely busy
  • always busy
  • increasingly busy

Phrases

  • keep busy
  • stay busy
  • too busy to
  • as busy as ever

Prepositions

  • busy with
  • busy at
  • busy on

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

'Busy' goes back to Old English 'bisig', meaning 'careful, anxious, occupied with something', and is closely related to Old Frisian and Middle Dutch words with similar senses. Unusually, it has no clear cousins in the other older Germanic languages, so its earlier history is not certain. The spelling with 'u' became standard in late Middle English, but the pronunciation kept the older 'i' sound — that is why 'busy' is now spelled and said so differently. The negative shade of 'meddling, interfering' (as in 'busybody') developed in early modern English from the same root.