busyness

See also: busy-ness

English

Alternative forms

• busy-ness
• busynesse (obsolete)

Etymology

From busy +‎ -ness; the ⟨y⟩ (-y) is kept to distinguish from business (of which it is a doublet), which is derived from the same two morphemes but by regular spelling rules.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪz.ɪ.nɪs/
• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪz.ɪ.nəs/

Noun

busyness (uncountable)

1. The state of being busy.
   • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 17, in The Line of Beauty […], 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

     She moved back to the table, and her busyness expressed her purpose but also perhaps hid some sort of regret at the news.

   • 2016, Benjamin H. Snyder, The Disrupted Workplace […] , Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 144:

     A world without rigid temporal boundaries gave some a rare chance to relax and regroup after many years of busyness.

   • 2023 June 15, Kat Moon, “Ashley Park’s Main Character Energy From ‘Joy Ride’ Is Here To Stay: ‘I’m Treating Myself Like A Lead Now’”, in Women's Health‎^[1]:

     The actor has also visited acupuncture and massage therapists more regularly to prime her body for the busyness of her schedule.

Related terms

• business