0%

busy work

bus·y work
B b

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [biz-ee wurk]
    • /ˈbɪz i wɜrk/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [biz-ee wurk]
    • /ˈbɪz i wɜrk/

Definitions of busy work words

  • noun busy work work assigned for the sake of looking or keeping busy. 1
  • noun busy work (Idiomatic) (chiefly US) Work or activity performed with the intention or result of occupying time, and not necessarily to accomplish something productive; routine work of low priority undertaken for the sake of avoiding idleness. 0

Information block about the term

Origin of busy work

First appearance:

before 1840
One of the 33% newest English words
First recorded in 1840-50; busy + work

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Busy work

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

busy work popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 65% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

busy work usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

See also

Matching words

Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?