busy
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- occupied, active, employed, engaged, hard at work, industrious, on duty, rushed off one's feet, working
- lively, energetic, exacting, full, hectic, hustling
[verb]
Synonyms:
- occupy, absorb, employ, engage, engross, immerse, interest

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Antonyms: free
Contrasted words: idle, inactive
Related Idioms: at work, on the fly

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English Thesaurus: busy, rushed/run off your feet, snowed under, up to your ears/neck in something, tied up, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. bus‧y¹ S1 W2 /ˈbɪzi/ adjective (comparative busier, superlative busiest)
[Language: Old English; Origin: bisig]

1. PERSON if you are busy, you are working hard and have a lot of things to do:
She’s busy now – can you phone later?
a busy mother of four
busy with
Mr Haynes is busy with a customer at the moment.
busy doing something
Rachel’s busy studying for her exams.
There were lots of activities to keep the kids busy.

2. TIME a busy period of time is full of work or other activities:
December is the busiest time of year for shops.
a busy day
He took time out of his busy schedule to visit us.

3. PLACE a busy place is very full of people or vehicles and movement:
We live on a very busy road.

4. TELEPHONE especially American English if a telephone you are calling is busy, it makes a repeated sound to tell you that the person you are calling is talking on their telephone Synonym : engaged British English:
I called Sonya, but her line was busy.
I keep getting a busy signal.

5. PATTERN a pattern or design that is busy is too full of small details – used to show disapproval

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. busy² verb (past tense and past participle busied, present participle busying, third person singular busies) [transitive]
busy yourself with something to use your time dealing with something:
He busied himself with answering letters.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

busy
adj.
VERBS be, look, seem | become, get | keep, remain She needed to keep busy.
keep sb I've got enough work to keep you busy.
ADV. awfully, extremely, really, terribly, very | exceptionally, particularly | desperately, frantically | a bit, fairly, pretty, quite, rather | constantly
PREP. with She was busy with her make-up.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

busy
adjective
BAD: I was busy with cooking the dinner.
GOOD: I was busy cooking the dinner.

Usage Note:
be busy doing sth : 'She's busy trying to finish her thesis.'
Compare: 'I was busy with the housework.' 'I was busy doing the housework.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

busy if you are busy, you have a lot of things you need to do:
Sorry I haven’t called you, but I’ve been really busy.
a busy housewife
Angela was becoming more and more unhappy, but her husband was too busy to notice.
Not now Stephen, I’m busy.
Alex is busy studying for his exams.
rushed/run off your feet [not before noun] especially British English spoken very busy and in a hurry, because you have too many things to do:
We’ve been absolutely rushed off our feet getting ready for our son’s birthday party.
snowed under [not before noun] especially British English so busy that you can hardly deal with all the work you have to do:
I can’t stop for lunch today – I’m completely snowed under.
We’ve been snowed under with applications for the job.
up to your ears/neck in something [not before noun] informal extremely busy because you have a lot of work to deal with:
Teachers say they are up to their ears in paperwork and don’t have enough time for teaching.
tied up [not before noun] busy in your job, so that you cannot do anything else:
I’m sorry, but he’s tied up at the moment. Could you call back later?
I can’t see you tomorrow: I’m tied up all day.
have a lot to do especially spoken to have to do a lot of things, so that you need to hurry or work hard:
Let’s get started – we have a lot to do.
have a lot on British English, have a lot going on American English especially spoken to be busy, especially because you have arranged to do a lot of things during a particular period:
I’ve got a lot on this weekend.
He says he’ll try and see you as soon as possible, but he has a lot going on this afternoon.
hectic a hectic time or situation is extremely busy, so that you are always in a hurry and often feel excited or worried:
It was really hectic at work today.
The band had a hectic recording schedule.
the rush hour the time in the morning and evening when a lot of people are travelling to or from work:
The buses are so crowded during the rush hour you never get a seat.
In most British cities the rush hour does not start until about 8 o'clock.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

busy use this about times when you have a lot of things you need to do:
We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow.
July and August are our busiest times.
hectic a hectic time or situation is extremely busy, so that you are always in a hurry and often feel excited or worried:
It was really hectic at work today.
The band had a hectic recording schedule.
the rush hour the time in the morning and evening when a lot of people are travelling to or from work:
The buses are so crowded during the rush hour you never get a seat.
In most British cities the rush hour does not start until about 8 o'clock.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲