忙しい vs 多忙
Japanese word comparison
Listen to 忙しい
Listen to 多忙
| 忙しい | 多忙 |
|---|---|
i-so-GA-shii adjective (い-adjective) | tabou adjective (い-adjective) |
| busy (having little free time; occupied with tasks) | very busy; heavily occupied (often with many responsibilities) |
How they differ
多忙 conveys a stronger, often formal sense of having a heavy workload or many obligations, while 忙しい is a neutral, everyday word for being busy; 多忙 is more about the volume/intensity of duties than about having little free time in a casual sense.
When to use each
When to use 忙しい: Prefer 忙しい in casual conversation to say you are busy in a neutral way.
When to use 多忙: Prefer 多忙 in formal or written contexts (e.g., business emails, reports) to emphasize a heavy workload or many responsibilities.
Side-by-side examples
- 今日は忙しくて行けません。
(I'm busy today and can't go.) - 今日は多忙で行けません。
(I can't go today because I'm very busy (I have many obligations).)
Register & nuance: 多忙 is more formal and often used in business or written Japanese, whereas 忙しい is common in everyday speech.