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bustle 1 of 2

noun

Definition of bustlenext
as in commotion
a state of noisy, confused activity I couldn't concentrate in all the bustle of the student lounge

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

bustle

2 of 2

verb

ˈbə-səl How to pronounce bustle (audio)
1
as in to burst
to be copiously supplied on Saturdays the city's downtown bustles with activity as a farmers' market sets up shop

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to rush
to proceed or move quickly the hostess bustled about, taking care of last-minute preparations for the party

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of bustle
Noun
Trendy restaurants bustle with crowds, and families and kids stroll the streets with cones and bowls of organic ice cream from tiny Fairfax Scoop. — Ben Davidson, Mercury News, 7 Sep. 2026 Airport-style security screening was neatly integrated into the low-slung bustle on the north side of the tower. — Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026
Verb
In an escape bordering on the miraculous, the crash somehow spared motorists on Milam Dairy Road and terrified workers in a bustling industrial warehouse district west of the airport. — Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 8 Sep. 2026 The backstory The idea of creating a love letter to friends and family inspired owner Noel Hayden to set up shop here, on a bustling corner of Soho. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for bustle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bustle
  1. commotion
  2. burst
  3. rush
  4. disturbance
  5. buzz
  6. hurry
  7. stir
  8. hum
Noun
  • All of that pregame commotion set the stage for what came next.
    — Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The Canadian singer caused a commotion with her ensemble, showing off a head-to-toe Alaïa ensemble from the upcoming Archetypes spring 2027 collection.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of commotion
Verb
  • The original Defender burst onto the scene in 1983 (though it wouldn’t be called the Defender until 1990), as a modern update to the original Land Rover Series that had debuted in the 1940s.
    — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Pioneers who created the tech weigh in OpenAI burst onto the mainstream in 2022 following the launch of its artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, and it's ballooned into one of the most valuable private companies in the world.
    — Ashley Capoot,David Faber,Kate Rooney, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of burst
Verb
  • The Bears ranked 27th last season in defensive rushing success and 29th in opponents’ yards before contact.
    — Ted Nguyen, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026
  • The 6-foot, 222-pound junior found the end zone twice and rushed for 266 yards against FSU, the most in the long-standing series, for a bright spot to cap an otherwise dismal 2025.
    — Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of rush
Noun
  • The person upstairs came down, confronted the man involved in the disturbance and shot him at least once, according to the release.
    — Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The ecological consequences of losing what remains Some coastal old-growth stands on Vancouver Island have not experienced a major disturbance since the end of the last ice age some 12,000 years ago.
    — Annika Hammerschlag, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of disturbance
Verb
  • Flies buzz over the rotting carcass, which is riven by claw marks so unnaturally deep that no one can determine whomauledit.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026
  • At the AfD’s final preelection rally Thursday in the state capital, Magdeburg, a crowd of 6,000 is buzzing.
    — Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of buzz
Verb
  • That said, Le Flâneur doesn’t necessarily have to be hurried either—guests are welcome to linger, too.
    — Colleen McNally Arnett, Southern Living, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Before hurrying away from his tent on the beach, Saleh was asked what would happen if US support never came.
    — Nic Robertson, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of hurry
Noun
  • After Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon caused a stir by resigning with a grave warning about the technology's potential risks, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei responded with an essay saying that the industry might need to slow the pace of its work.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Yet the notice has also raised a stir in the mathematics community for another reason.
    — Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of stir
Verb
  • To build the president’s White House ballroom, roughly 250 workers have been pouring concrete and installing steel framework, keeping the site humming for 20 hours a day, seven days a week.
    — Janay Kingsberry, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2026
  • As the Yeomen continued losing games last year, the larger college-football machine kept humming at campuses across the country.
    — Jesse Dougherty, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of hum

Browse Nearby Words

busting
bustle
bustled
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Cite this Entry

“Bustle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bustle. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on bustle

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about bustle

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