忙いそがしい

い

そ

が

し

い

Common wordJLPTN5Freq.FrequencyTop 2,000

Meanings

1

i-adjective

busy; occupied; hectic

The main everyday sense: a person, schedule, workplace, season, etc. has many things to do and little free time.

今日きょうは仕し事ごとが忙いそがしい。
I'm busy with work today.
年ねん末まつはどの店みせも忙いそがしくなる

。

Every shop gets busy at the end of the year.

2

i-adjective

restless; hurried; fidgety

Describes movement, attention, or manner that is constantly shifting or hurried. Less central than the 'busy with work' sense, and often used adverbially as 忙しく.

小こ鳥とりが枝えだから枝えだへ忙いそがしく飛とび回まわっている。
The little birds are flitting restlessly from branch to branch.
彼かれは話はなしながら視し線せんが忙いそがしかった。
As he talked, his eyes kept darting around.

Written forms

忙いそがしいUsage96%
Standard common kanji spelling.
いそがしいUsage4%
Kana spelling is easy to understand and may appear in casual, learner-facing, or child-oriented writing, though the kanji form is standard.
忙いそがしいUsage<1%
search-only kanji form
It is a search-only kanji form; use 忙しい in normal writing.

Kanji

忙busy, occupied, restless

Similar words

多た忙ぼう
A more formal noun or na-adjective meaning 'very busy'; 忙しい is the ordinary i-adjective used in everyday speech.
暇ひま
The opposite idea: free time or being unoccupied.
せわしい
Closer to 'restless' or 'hurried' in atmosphere; 忙しい more commonly means simply having many things to do.

Etymology

The historical derivation is not specified. The kanji 忙 is conventionally associated with busyness, but this is a spelling explanation rather than a claimed historical origin.