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Meaning & use

as busy as

phrase·Everyday

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UK/əz ˈbɪzi əz/
US/əz ˈbɪzi əz/

Meanings

  1. phrasefixed phraseinformal

    Used before a noun to say that someone or something is extremely busy, like the thing named.

    Grammar: Always followed by a noun or noun phrase: as busy as a bee, as busy as a beehive.

    Patterns

    • as busy as a bee
    • as busy as a beehive
    • as busy as a one-armed paper hanger

    My mother has been as busy as a bee since she opened her bakery.

    The whole office was as busy as a beehive before the launch.

    He was as busy as a bee all weekend, painting and cleaning.

  2. phrasefixed phraseinformal

    Used without a following noun to mean that two people or things are equally busy.

    Grammar: Here the second 'as' joins two clauses or nouns: I'm as busy as she is.

    Patterns

    • as busy as someone
    • as busy as someone is
    • as busy as before

    I'm as busy as I've ever been this month.

    She works nights, so she's as busy as her husband.

    We're not as busy as we were last year.

Common combinations

as busy as a bee
Grandma was as busy as a bee in the kitchen.
as busy as a beehive
The market was as busy as a beehive on Saturday morning.
as busy as ever
The phones are as busy as ever this morning.
as busy as a one-armed paper hanger
After the storm, the repair crews were as busy as a one-armed paper hanger.

Synonyms and how they differ

hard at work
Describes someone working steadily, but it does not carry the idea of being extremely busy that this simile does.
rushed off your feet
A British idiom meaning very busy with tasks; it is about pressure rather than comparison with a bee.
swamped
Means overwhelmed by work; stronger and more negative than 'as busy as a bee'.

Opposites

idlefree

Word family

busy adjective
The base adjective meaning having a lot to do.
busily adverb
In a busy, active way.
busyness noun
The state of being busy.

Commonly confused: as busy as or as busy as a bee? as busy as or busy as?

as busy as vs as busy as a bee

This is the complete simile; 'as busy as' alone is unfinished and needs a noun or clause after it.

as busy as vs busy as

Learners sometimes drop the first 'as'; standard English keeps both, as in 'as busy as a bee'.

Practice

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