ROGET'S THESAURUS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES ...

usy, occupied; hard at work, hard at it; up to one's ears in, full of business, busy as a
bee, busy as a one-armed paperhanger.
meddling &c v.; meddlesome, pushing, officious, overofficious † , intrigant † .
astir, stirring; agoing † , afoot; on foot; in full swing; eventful; on the alert, &c (vigilant)
459.
Adv. actively &c adj.; with life and spirit, with might and main &c 686, with haste &c
684, with wings; full tilt, in mediis rebus [Lat.].
Int. be alive, look alive, look sharp!, move on, push on!, keep moving!, go ahead!, stir
your stumps!, age quod agis! [Lat.], jaldi! † , karo! † , step lively!,
Phr. carpe diem [Lat.], seize the day; &c (opportunity) 134 nulla dies sine linea [Lat.]
[Pliny]; nec mora nec requies [Lat.] [Vergil]; the plot thickens; No sooner said than done
&c (early) 132; veni vidi vici [Lat.] [Suetonius]; catch a weasel asleep; abends wird der
Faule fleissig [G.]; dictum ac factum [Lat.] [Terence]; schwere Arbeit in der Jugend ist
sanfte Ruhe im Alter [G.], hard work in youth means soft rest in age; the busy hum of
men [Milton].
683. Inactivity -- N. inactivity; inaction &c 681; inertness &c 172; obstinacy &c 606.
lull &c (cessation) 142; quiescence &c 265; rust, rustiness.
idleness, remissness &c adj.; sloth, indolence, indiligence † ; dawdling &c v..
ergophobia † , otiosity † .
dullness &c adj.; languor; segnity † , segnitude † ; lentor † ; sluggishness &c (slowness)
275; procrastination &c (delay) 133; torpor, torpidity, torpescence † ; stupor &c
(insensibility) 823; somnolence; drowsiness &c adj.; nodding &c v.; oscitation † ,
oscitancy † ; pandiculation † , hypnotism, lethargy; statuvolence heaviness † , heavy eyelids.
sleep, slumber; sound sleep, heavy sleep, balmy sleep; Morpheus; Somnus; coma,
trance, ecstasis † , dream, hibernation, nap, doze, snooze, siesta, wink of sleep, forty winks,
snore; hypnology † .
dull work; pottering; relaxation &c (loosening) 47; Castle of Indolence.
[Cause of inactivity] lullaby, sedative, tranquilizer, hypnotic, sleeping pill, relaxant,
anaesthetic, general anaesthetic &c 174; torpedo.
[person who is inactive] idler, drone, droil † , dawdle, mopus † ; do-little faineant [Fr.],
dummy, sleeping partner; afternoon farmer; truant &c (runaway) 623; bummer † , loafer,
goldbrick, goldbicker, lounger, lazzarone [It]; lubber, lubbard † ; slow coach &c (slow.)
275; opium eater, lotus eater; slug; lag † , sluggard, slugabed; slumberer, dormouse,
marmot; waiter on Providence, fruges consumere natus [Lat.].
V. be inactive &c adj.; do nothing &c 681; move slowly &c 275; let the grass grow under
one's feet; take one's time, dawdle, drawl, droil † , lag, hang back, slouch; loll, lollop † ;
lounge, poke, loaf, loiter; go to sleep over; sleep at one's post, ne battre que d'une aile
[Fr.].
take it easy, take things as they come; lead an easy life, vegetate, swim with the
stream, eat the bread of idleness; loll in the lap of luxury, loll in the lap of indolence;
waste time, consume time, kill time, lose time; burn daylight, waste the precious hours.
idle away time, trifle away time, fritter away time, fool away time; spend time in, take
time in; peddle, piddle; potter, pudder † , dabble, faddle fribble † , fiddle-faddle; dally, dillydally.