as in interested
to hold the attention of
the video game busied the child for hours
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Recent Examples of busied
The department has also busied itself in Minneapolis with prosecuting residents opposed to what federal officials are doing in their city and immigrants trying to flee their pursuers, a tactic seen in other cities targeted for immigration enforcement.
—
Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 28 Jan. 2026
For the first 12 minutes, the Celtics busied themselves by snapping up free points.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 6 Jan. 2026
Eventually, though, after the Falcons recovered an onside kick successfully and knelt the rest of the way en route to a 19-17 victory, the family busied themselves jumping up and down, screaming for joy.
—Diamond Vences, Charlotte Observer, 5 Jan. 2026
So, after the sombrero drew hearty guffaws, my friend Jim busied himself finding monuments to chip-and-dip tastelessness.
—Lee Michael Katz, USA Today, 20 Dec. 2025
After that, Cornell busied himself with his solo career and other endeavors before committing suicide in 2017.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Russia has for years busied itself with reopening its Soviet-era military bases in the Arctic, and with constructing new facilities across the region.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Aug. 2025
Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 28 Jan. 2026
For the first 12 minutes, the Celtics busied themselves by snapping up free points.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 6 Jan. 2026
Eventually, though, after the Falcons recovered an onside kick successfully and knelt the rest of the way en route to a 19-17 victory, the family busied themselves jumping up and down, screaming for joy.
—Diamond Vences, Charlotte Observer, 5 Jan. 2026
So, after the sombrero drew hearty guffaws, my friend Jim busied himself finding monuments to chip-and-dip tastelessness.
—Lee Michael Katz, USA Today, 20 Dec. 2025
After that, Cornell busied himself with his solo career and other endeavors before committing suicide in 2017.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Russia has for years busied itself with reopening its Soviet-era military bases in the Arctic, and with constructing new facilities across the region.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for busied
Verb
-
Things that interested me as a child, as a teenager and as a young adult still interest me.—
Peter Larsen,
Daily News,
5 Feb. 2026
-
What interested me from the very start was a certain fundamental clash of cultures that the crime seemed to have exposed.—
Scott Eden,
Rolling Stone,
1 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
With a 10,000-square foot spa (the first true spa in the region), buzzy bar scene, and stellar restaurants, the property ensures even non-skiers will keep occupied.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
20 Feb. 2026
-
Additionally, Putin wants Kyiv to withdraw its forces from the four eastern regions Moscow has occupied but doesn't fully control.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Might be a nice world to be immersed in for a while.—
Hannah Jocelyn,
New Yorker,
18 Feb. 2026
-
Arriving on the historically Black campus in 1960 just months after students there launched sit-ins at a whites-only lunch counter, Jackson immersed himself in the blossoming Civil Rights Movement.—
Sophia Tareen,
Fortune,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Sehgal, who has studied sleep in fruit flies, and who was not involved in Fu’s research, was intrigued by the fact that these genes do not seem to be connected by a particular sleep process or brain pathway.—
Shayla Love,
New Yorker,
18 Feb. 2026
-
Epibatidine intrigued researchers for decades and was once highly sought after as a potential analgesic many times more powerful than morphine.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Duffy said the companies involved in the Indiana crash were all registered at the same apartment.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Schools get involved Social and emotional awareness isn’t just rising online, in literature, and at home.—
Beth Ann Mayer,
Parents,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Systematic excavations at Pompeii began in the mid-1700s, and the site has fascinated historians and visitors ever since.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
19 Feb. 2026
-
Then, there are the pesky vampirologists Theobastus Bombastus (André Jung) and Nepomuk Afterbite (Marco Lorenzini), who’ve arrived at this hotel for a vampire conference and are fascinated by Erzsébet’s legend, and my god, her gowns, too.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
18 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Busied.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/busied. Accessed 24 Feb. 2026.
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