bustled; bustling
ˈbəs-liŋ 
ˈbə-sə-
1
: to move briskly and often ostentatiously
bustled around the kitchen
2
: to be busily astir : teem
The house was bustling with activity.
: noisy, energetic, and often obtrusive activity
the hustle and bustle of the big city
clothing
: a pad or framework expanding and supporting the fullness and drapery of the back of a woman's skirt or dress
the bustle of a 19th century wedding gown
also
: the drapery so supported
Synonyms
Verb
Noun (1)
- ado
- alarums and excursions
- ballyhoo
- blather
- bluster
- bobbery
- bother
- clatter
- clutter [chiefly dialect]
- coil
- commotion
- corroboree [Australian]
- disturbance
- do [chiefly dialect]
- foofaraw
- fun
- furor
- furore
- fuss
- helter-skelter
- hoo-ha
- hoo-hah
- hoopla
- hubble-bubble
- hubbub
- hullabaloo
- hurly
- hurly-burly
- hurricane
- hurry
- hurry-scurry
- hurry-skurry
- kerfuffle [chiefly British]
- moil
- pandemonium
- pother
- row
- ruckus
- ruction
- rumpus
- shindy
- splore [Scottish]
- squall
- stew
- stir
- storm
- to-do
- tumult
- turmoil
- uproar
- welter
- whirl
- williwaw
- zoo
Examples of bustle in a Sentence
Verb
She bustled around the kitchen getting ready for dinner guests.
on Saturdays the city's downtown bustles with activity as a farmers' market sets up shop
Noun (1)
I couldn't concentrate in all the bustle of the student lounge
Recent Examples on the Web
Roger Sands, Forbes, 21 Jan. 2025
Their bustling home, constantly packed with visitors and friends, and their idyllic life, filled with long days at the beach and ice cream breaks and impromptu dance parties and soufflé dinners, serve as both a warm rebuke to and a bit of a bubble from the gathering darkness.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 17 Jan. 2025
Ariel Okin, Vogue, 22 Jan. 2025
And speaking of bustles, there was another one on Lara Trump’s strapless carnelian gown, which matched the gems at her neck.
—Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for bustle 
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show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Verb
The Civic Theatre Tours take visitors on a journey that spans almost one hundred years from the venue’s inception in the late 1920s and heyday in the 1930s and 40s, bustling with showgirls, cabaret acts, and celebrities through to the 1990s.
—Roger Sands, Forbes, 21 Jan. 2025
Their bustling home, constantly packed with visitors and friends, and their idyllic life, filled with long days at the beach and ice cream breaks and impromptu dance parties and soufflé dinners, serve as both a warm rebuke to and a bit of a bubble from the gathering darkness.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 17 Jan. 2025
Noun
Staying at Wildflower feels like being transported to an otherworldly, slower pace—far from the hustle and bustle of NYC.
—Ariel Okin, Vogue, 22 Jan. 2025
And speaking of bustles, there was another one on Lara Trump’s strapless carnelian gown, which matched the gems at her neck.
—Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for bustle
Dictionary Entries Near bustle
Cite this Entry
“Bustle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bustle. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bustle
1 of 2 verb
bus·tle
ˈbəs-əl
bustled; bustling
ˈbəs-(ə-)liŋ
: to move about busily or noisily
bustle
2 of 2 noun
: noisy or energetic activity
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