busy, occupied, restless
On'yomi (音読み)
- ボウ
- モウ
Kun'yomi (訓読み)
- いそが.しい
- せわ.しい
- おそ.れる
- うれえるさま
About this kanji
The kanji 忙 means "busy" or "occupied" and is used to describe a state of being very active or having many tasks. It can function as both a verb and an adjective, most often appearing in its adjective form, 忙しい (いそがしい), meaning "busy." Common compounds include 多忙 (たぼう), which refers to being very busy, and 繁忙 (はんぼう), meaning a hectic or busy period. Another interesting compound is 忙殺 (ぼうさつ), which implies being overwhelmed by busyness. A usage note: while being busy can often imply a lot of work, it can also suggest a feeling of restlessness.
Example sentences
今日はとても忙しい。
I am very busy today.
Meanings across languages
- English
- busy, occupied, restless
- Tiếng Việt
- bận, chiếm dụng, mất bình tĩnh
- 日本語
- 忙しい, 占有する, 落ち着かない
- 한국어
- 바쁘다, 점유하다, 안절부절하다
- 中文
- 忙, 占用, 心神不宁
- id
- sibuk
- th
- ยุ่ง
- es
- ocupado
- fr
- occupé
- de
- beschäftigt
- pt
- ocupado
Common compounds
- 多忙たぼうbeing very busy, busyness
- 忙しいいそがしいbusy, occupied, hectic
- 繁忙はんぼうbusy, high-stress, hectic
- 忙殺ぼうさつbeing extremely busy, being swamped with work
- 忙中ぼうちゅうin the midst of busyness
- 怱忙そうぼう(being) busy
- 忙しげせわしげlooking busy, appearing busy, looking restless
- 大忙しおおいそがしvery busy
Want to actually learn this kanji?
The dictionary is one view. The Kanji 360 app wraps every character with mnemonic images, audio readings, stroke-order animation, story context, and SRS scheduling — free to start on iPhone, iPad, and Android.