busy oneself

busy oneself — idiom

1. to spend time doing things so that you stay active, especially in order to avoid

1.慣用語B2
釋義

to spend time doing things so that you stay active, especially in order to avoid feeling bored or anxious

例句

Rafael busied himself with gardening after work to clear his mind.

pattern: busy oneself with [noun]

When Ada feels anxious, she busies herself folding laundry in the bedroom.

pattern: busy oneself [doing something]

同義詞
  • occupy oneself

    more formal and slightly less common than 'busy oneself'

  • keep busy

    more informal; structured as 'keep + object + busy' (e.g., 'the kids kept themselves busy')

  • keep occupied

    similar to 'keep busy', slightly more formal

反義詞
  • idle

    to spend time doing nothing; the opposite of keeping active

文法句型

busy + reflexive pronoun + with + noun/noun phrase

busy + reflexive pronoun + doing something

用法筆記

The reflexive pronoun must match the subject: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves. The expression is always reflexive — omitting the pronoun is a common error.

常見錯誤

❌He busied with gardening after work.
✅He busied himself with gardening after work.
💡the reflexive pronoun 'himself' is required; 'busy' always takes a reflexive object in this expression.