busy

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

adj. occupied, engaged, engrossed; employed; meddlesome. See activity, business.

II

(Roget's IV) modif.

1. [Engaged]

Syn. occupied, diligent, working, employed, involved, tied up, in conference, in a meeting, in the field, on an assignment; with a customer, with a patient, etc.; on duty, on the job, at work, on the move, on the run, on the road, hard-working, industrious, buried in, busy as a bee*, hustling*, up to one's ears, up to one's neck, up to one's eyeballs*, on the go*, on the jump*, hard at it*, having many irons in the fire*, having other fish to fry*; see also employed .

Ant. idle, unemployed*, unoccupied, free.

2. [Active]

Syn. bustling, energetic, lively, hectic; see active 2 .

3. [In use]

Syn. employed, occupied, in someone else's possession, unavailable, already taken, full; see also rented .

Ant. not in use, available*, free.

4. [Officious]

Syn. meddlesome, curious, forward, intrusive, obtrusive, meddling, prying, interfering, butting in*, snoopy*, nosy*, pushy*; see also meddlesome .

5. [Too crowded with detail]

Syn. fussy, cluttered, overelaborate; see elaborate 1 , ornate 1 .

See Synonym Study at diligent .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) a.

1. active bustling, full, *buzzing, *humming, *popping, *hopping, jumping, *on the go, lively.

2. engaged preoccupied, employed, unavailable, working, active, involved, tied down, tied up.

ANT.: 1. idle, still, quiet. 2. free, at leisure, lazing around

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I adjective 1. Involved in activity or work: employed, engaged, occupied. See ACTION. 2. Excessively filled with detail: cluttered, crowded, fussy. See SIMPLE. II verb To make busy: employ, engage, occupy. See ACTION.