otherwise engaged
idiom
: busy doing something else
He won't be able to attend because he's otherwise engaged.
Examples of otherwise engaged in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Because the department has a narrow window to initiate a drug search, a K-9 unit most likely will not be available in time, either because the unit is too far away, otherwise engaged, or because there is no active unit that day.
—
Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 9 May 2024
But even if the European Peace Facility is expanded and the rapid deployment force becomes operational, Europe will hardly be able to defend itself if the United States is otherwise engaged.
—Radek Sikorski, Foreign Affairs, 20 June 2023
If you’re otherwise engaged when a former flame hits you up on Snapchat, stick to your boundaries!
—ELLE, 2 June 2023
If you’re otherwise engaged when a former flame hits you up on Snapchat, stick to your boundaries!
—ELLE, 2 June 2023
They are intended to be touched, climbed on, and otherwise engaged with.
—Lauren Elkin, Travel + Leisure, 21 Mar. 2023
He was known as a friendly, talkative customer who asked about their children and otherwise engaged them in conversation.
—Jacqueline L. Salmon, Washington Post, 31 Dec. 2022
But the female who came looking for a mate will often find one while the males from her group are otherwise engaged.
—Lee Alan Dugatkin, Scientific American, 15 Apr. 2022
Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons were otherwise engaged with their other band, What Is This?, which signed a record deal two weeks before RHCP did.
—Al Shipley, SPIN, 1 Apr. 2022
Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 9 May 2024
But even if the European Peace Facility is expanded and the rapid deployment force becomes operational, Europe will hardly be able to defend itself if the United States is otherwise engaged.
—Radek Sikorski, Foreign Affairs, 20 June 2023
If you’re otherwise engaged when a former flame hits you up on Snapchat, stick to your boundaries!
—ELLE, 2 June 2023
If you’re otherwise engaged when a former flame hits you up on Snapchat, stick to your boundaries!
—ELLE, 2 June 2023
They are intended to be touched, climbed on, and otherwise engaged with.
—Lauren Elkin, Travel + Leisure, 21 Mar. 2023
He was known as a friendly, talkative customer who asked about their children and otherwise engaged them in conversation.
—Jacqueline L. Salmon, Washington Post, 31 Dec. 2022
But the female who came looking for a mate will often find one while the males from her group are otherwise engaged.
—Lee Alan Dugatkin, Scientific American, 15 Apr. 2022
Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons were otherwise engaged with their other band, What Is This?, which signed a record deal two weeks before RHCP did.
—Al Shipley, SPIN, 1 Apr. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'otherwise engaged.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near otherwise engaged
Cite this Entry
“Otherwise engaged.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/otherwise%20engaged. Accessed 30 May. 2024.
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