bustling

adjective

bus·​tling ˈbəs-liŋ How to pronounce bustling (audio)
ˈbə-sə-
: full of lively activity : busily astir
a bustling market
bustling streets
Commercial ships and recreational boats were serviced by a bustling marine industry.AAG Abstracts
bustlingly adverb
a bustlingly busy area

Examples of bustling in a Sentence

a bustling greeter was there to welcome guests to the grand opening a bustling shopping center during the Christmas season
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This leads some landlords to cut the prices and open the doors to independent and local type businesses just to keep a plaza active and bustling. Kevin Williams, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2025 Celebrations are ongoing in the bustling Alexander household. Elizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 26 Sep. 2025 Today, Kepler’s Books is a bustling brick-and-mortar bookshop, while the Kepler’s Literary Foundation brings authors into local underresourced schools and maintains a calendar crammed with upcoming author talks, book club discussions and workshops. Kate Bradshaw, Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2025 But Gorman also cautioned that even if the bold ideas put forth by Musk and Bezos are realized fully, with bustling metropolises constructed among the stars, humanity will eventually need to look back toward home. Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for bustling

Word History

First Known Use

1582, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bustling was in 1582

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bustling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bustling. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on bustling

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!