busy bee
3
2.9
- noun
- /ˈbɪzi bi/
- Informal
:
abeja trabajadora
- If you want to succeed in your career, you have to be a busy bee and put in the effort.
Examples
-
I've been a busy bee, behind the scenes, preparing for something I've dreamed of for years.
Blog text (19) -
You've been a busy bee.
-
Oh, you've been a busy bee.
-
Aren't you a busy bee?
-
Well, somebody's certainly been a busy bee.
-
Quite the busy bee we've been, Mr. Watkins.
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Hello there, I have been a tad busy, so haven't had much of a chance to post here in the last two days, but I have been quite a busy bee!
Blog text (16) -
She is a real busy bee, always organizing events and helping her friends.
-
After accepting the new project, he became quite the busy bee, juggling multiple tasks each day.
Synonyms
3
6.1
A person who is very willing to do extra work and works harder than others
1
6.2
A very active person who works hard and gets many things done
Antonyms
How Industrious
- Informal
18
5.4
- Informal
3
2.9
33
1.3
600
1.0
- Offensive
2
7.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
busy + bee
The meaning 'a person who is always busy and works hard' is directly inferable from combining 'busy' (engaged in many tasks) with 'bee' (an insect culturally associated with industriousness). The animal-metaphor is transparent and common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely understand the intended meaning.
Etymology
The idiom busy bee comes from the picture of a small bee always flying from flower to flower and working for its hive. That's why we call someone a busy bee when they are 'always busy' and 'work hard'.