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buzzing

buzzing

3.6
Full of a low humming sound or busy, noisy activity
  • adjective
  • /ˈbʌzɪŋ/
translation icon : zumbante
  • The restaurant was buzzing with activity as patrons enjoyed their meals and chatted excitedly.

I am going to be buzzing after that.

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Examples

  • Cicadas make a buzzing sound that's almost as loud and incessant as this.

  • First there's a really annoying buzzing noise, then nothing.

  • What else could love be but lots of buzzing or hate?

  • Only buzzing, ceaseless buzzing, the melody of doom.

  • Just, you know, an amorphous mass of, as James called it, booming, buzzing confusion.

  • They won't be warm and buzzing all over the place, so we'll be wearing our gloves.

  • Wagner described the sound of the Jewish voice as hissing and shrill and buzzing and grunting.

  • First, the philosopher William James described the world of newborn infants as a buzzing and blooming confusion.

  • If you hang out and you're around bees, the buzzing of the bees, that's in the key of GC.

  • If you hang out and you're around bees, the buzzing of the bees, that's in the key of GC.

Synonyms

noisy
vsbuzzing
125 1.0

Full of loud, unpleasant sounds

emphasizes a lower continuous hum and lively positive activity
abuzz
vsbuzzing
12 5.3

Full of excited noise, like people talking or bees

is more about both steady low sound combined with excitement
bustling
vsbuzzing
9 4.1

Full of busy, noisy activity and many people

focuses more on continuous low sound rather than just movement
humming
vsbuzzing
5 2.7

A low steady sound like bees or a machine running

includes that steady low sound but also suggests lively activity
buzzy
vsbuzzing
4.6

A low, continuous humming sound like a bee

adds a stronger sense of lively atmosphere to the sound
whirring
vsbuzzing
3.7

Making a soft continuous buzzing sound like a fan or fast wings

is slower and lower, giving a steadier rumble plus activity
4.7

Full of lively energy because people feel excited

adds an audible low hum to the energetic feeling

Antonyms

45 1.0

A calm time with little or no sound

38 3.5

A time of complete quiet and no movement that feels calm

Idioms

Full of new ideas and creative energy

How Noisy

roaring
30 3.4
buzzing
3.6
thrum
2 7.2
humming
5 2.7

Surface Forms

buzzing positive

Morphology

buzzing = buzz (transparent) = buzz + ing

A regular participial adjective formed from the verb 'buzz'; both the literal sound meaning and the common figurative sense 'lively/noisy with activity' are predictable extensions.

Etymology

Buzzing comes from the simple sound word buzz, which copies the low, steady noise bees make, a 'humming' or 'vibrating' sound. So when a place is buzzing it means it is full of noise and busy activity, just like a group of busy bees.