Busy

Busy is an adjective describing someone who is occupied with tasks, commitments, or activities, leaving little or no time for other things or indicating unavailability. It can also describe a place or period that is filled with activity, such as a busy street or a busy season. The adverb form is busily, and the noun form busyness refers to the state of being busy.

Etymology and forms: Busy derives from Old English bysig, meaning occupied or engaged, and has parallels in other Germanic languages. The sense of active engagement underpins most modern uses, including phrases like “be busy,” “stay busy,” and “busy doing something.”

Usage and nuance: Busy contrasts with idle or free. It may convey productive engagement when describing purposeful work, or imply overcommitment when it suggests excessive or distracting activity. Common collocations include busy schedule, busy day, and busy season. Idioms such as “busy as a bee” highlight high levels of activity.

Technology and communication: In technology and communications, busy occurs in phrases like “busy signal” on telephones and “busy indicator” or “busy state” in software interfaces, where a visual cue shows ongoing processing. In computing, “busy waiting” describes a process repeatedly checking a condition rather than sleeping or blocking.

Related terms: Busyness is the noun form referring to the state of being busy, and related adjectives include occupied or preoccupied. The concept is widely used across everyday language to describe time use, workload, and levels of activity.