activity

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

State of being active

Nouns

1. (state of being active) activity, activeness, business, energy, liveliness, animation; briskness, quickness, alertness; wakefulness, vigil; alacrity, zeal, dash, fervor, eagerness, vivacity, vigor, spirit; activism. See action.

2. (result of activity) movement, fuss, ado, bustle (See agitation); three-ring circus; high gear; industry, diligence, assiduity, assiduousness; activities, comings and goings, goings-on.

3. (one who acts) activist, new broom; fan, devotee, addict. Informal, hustler, go-getter, ball of fire. Slang, live wire; freak, eager beaver.

4. (that which awakens) alarm clock; reveille. Informal, wake-up call.

Verbs

1. (act) be active, busy, etc., have one's hands full, have other fish to fry, have many irons in the fire; bestir oneself, come to life, come alive, get up, go about or at, look alive, get into the swing of things, bustle, fuss, stir one's stumps, blow away the cobwebs; feel one's oats. Informal, come alive, stir. Slang, get on the stick. See haste.

2. (make active) activate, actuate, animate; wake [up], awaken, [a]rouse, build a fire under. See attention.

Adjectives

1. (in action) active, busy, astir, at it, in the swim; brisk, alert, spry, smart, quick, spanking; energetic, lively, alive, vivacious, keen, eager; frisky, feisty, forward, spirited; up and doing, quick on the trigger, on the jump, on the go, on the job, on one's toes, in high gear, in full swing, on the fly or the job. Informal, snappy, psyched up.

2. (active at work) working, on duty, at work; in commission, in circulation; in effect, in force; industrious, diligent, assiduous. Informal, in harness.

3. awake, up, conscious; wakeful, sleepless, insomniac.

Adverbs — actively, etc. See haste.

Phrases — a rolling stone gathers no moss; no peace for the wicked.

Quotations — It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing (Thomas Jefferson), Let us, then, be up and doing (Longfellow).

Antonyms, See inactivity, repose.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [The state of being active]

Syn. motion, movement, exercise, liveliness; see action 1 .

2. [A pursuit]

Syn. pursuit, exercise, project, venture; see enterprise 1 , exercise 2 .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

1. action movement, commotion, motion, bustle, hustle.

2. liveliness energy, vivacity, vigor, alertness, briskness.

3. pastime pursuit, recreation, venture, game, hobby.

ANT.: 1. inactivity, stillness, inertia. 2. sloth, tiredness, exhaustion

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun Energetic physical action: exercise, exertion. See ACTION.