Are you looking for a creative way to say that you are busy?
Well, in this post, we are going to review 19 busy idioms, what they mean, and how to use them in a sentence.
I hope you enjoy!
19 Busy Idioms And Phrases (Meaning & Examples)
1. To Be As Busy As A Beaver (Building A Dam)
- Meaning: to be very busy, hardworking
- Use In A Sentence: Jamie was as busy as a beaver preparing for her wedding.
2. To have a lot on one’s plate
- Meaning: to have many things to do, generally within the same period of time.
- Use In A Sentence: Kelsie has a lot on her plate as a caregiver to her grandmother.
3. Slammed
- Meaning: to have more than the usual amount of work to do, to be overloaded with work.
- Use In A Sentence: When Warner got to his desk, he realized he was slammed with work for the day.
4. To Be Snowed Under
- Meaning: to be overwhelmed with a lot of work.
- Use In A Sentence: Jane is completely snowed under with her office presentation this week.
5. Swamped
- Meaning: used to describe that someone has had to work more than usual because of having a huge amount of work to do.
- Use In A Sentence: Arthur spent the last 3 nights sleeping at the office because of how swamped he’s been with work.
6. Busiest men have the most leisure
- Meaning: used to convey the idea that those who are efficient in their work, tend to have more “free” time in the end.
- Use In A Sentence: Luke is home early today because as they say, busiest men have the most leisure.
7. To be as busy as a bee
- Meaning: to be active and occupied either with secular work or a particular task.
- Use In A Sentence: Harper was as busy as a bee preparing her lessons for tomorrow’s class.
8. To be buried (in work)
- Meaning: to be so very occupied with something that you practically have zero time for any other activity
- Use In A Sentence: Karlie is always so buried in her work, she never has time to spend with Jake.
9. I’m up to my ears/eyes/neck (in work)
- Meaning: to be flooded, or deeply involved in one’s work or other activity.
- Use In A Sentence: Even though Charlotte is up to her eyes in work this week, she doesn’t mind it.
You may also enjoy reading: 26 Everday Idioms Found In Songs
10. To be all tied up
- Meaning: to be so busy that you can’t go anywhere or speak to anyone because of your packed schedule.
- Use In A Sentence: “Mr. Avery is all tied up right now, can I take a message?”
11. To have one’s hands full
- Meaning: to have as much work as possible.
- Use In A Sentence: Judy already has her hands full helping 3 kids, she can’t take on another one.
12. Have a lot of irons in the fire
- Meaning: to be involved in many different tasks or plans, that at least one will likely succeed.
- Use In A Sentence: Tony has so many irons in the fire, I feel confident everything will work out well for him.
13. To be hard at work on something
- Meaning: to be intensely occupied with a specific task
- Use In A Sentence: Dad is hard at work in the garage. Maybe you should call again tomorrow.
14. To bite off more than one can chew
- Meaning: to take on more work than one can handle.
- Use In A Sentence: Unfortunately, Bill has bitten off more than he can chew, so I wouldn’t hold your breath.
15. To be burnt out
- Meaning: to be overworked.
- Use In A Sentence: Faith was burnt out from her 16-hour shifts at the hospital.
16. Busy as a hibernating bear
- Meaning: to be completely unoccupied, not busy at all.
- Use In A Sentence: Despite what George says, he is as busy as a hibernating bear, let me tell you!
17. To Be As Busy as Grand Central Station
- Meaning: extremely busy.
- Use In A Sentence: Tom was as busy as Grand Central Station trying to get his garden planted before the end of Spring.
18. To Be Run Off One’s Feet
- Meaning: used to describe someone who is very busy.
- Use In A Sentence: Dave was run off her feet with his family visiting unexpectedly.
19. To Get Rushed Off One’s Feet
- Meaning: to be worked very hard so that one is especially busy.
- Use In A Sentence: We are going to have 25 people at our house tonight. Everyone is going to get rushed off their feet.
There you have it! 19 Busy Idioms and how to use them.
Which one is your favorite? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
