“Fully booked” is an expression you might’ve heard before in a variety of different contexts, but aren’t sure as to what it exactly refers to. This article will fully explain what “fully booked” means, plus give you several examples of how you could use it.
What Does “Fully Booked” Mean?
“Fully booked” is an idiom that is generally used to mean that your time is fully occupied, and that you are too busy to add a certain activity or event, whether it’s social or work related. When you say you’re “fully booked”, you’re basically saying that you’re really busy.
“Fully booked” comes from the sort of jobs that get “booked up”, such as a model or a catering service, for example. However, anyone may use “fully booked”, no matter what their job is.
The expression “fully booked” is not even limited to work contexts. If you’re too busy and it’s because of social events that you must attend, then that’s an equally valid use of the expression.
How to Use “Fully Booked” In a Sentence
Often, you will find that you’re too busy to do something. Someone might be requesting your help with a certain job, or they might be inviting you to attend a particular dinner. When you’re too busy to do something, you simply say “I am fully booked”. Here are some examples:
- I have a fully booked calendar for the next month, so dinner will have to wait a while, I’m afraid.
- My schedule is fully booked for the next week, but if you’re free on the 15th we can do it then.
- They’re fully booked for next week but if we delay the party by a week we can book them.
- I’m going to call the catering service and pray that they are not fully booked for our shooting day.
- We have to ensure that we’re not fully booked so they can employ our services when it’s needed.
5 Good Synonyms
Of course, while the expression “fully booked” is incredibly useful, many times in the English language you will want to express the same idea of “being busy” that the expression conveys without using “fully booked”. For those cases, here are some synonyms that you can use:
Booked Up
“Booked up” is a very useful way to convey that you’re too busy on a given day, week, or really any period of time. “Booked up” is obviously a very similar expression to “fully booked”, but it’s different enough that it will help you to diversify your language.
Saying you’re “booked up” is a very handy way of expressing to your audience that you’re too busy for whatever is being brought up, and that your priorities will be elsewhere.
Here are a couple of example sentences that use “booked up”:
- I think I’m booked up for next week, sadly, but if you’re really insistent I can double check.
- They’re booked up for the month, so we will have to find a different event planner very soon.
Completely Occupied
If you want a slightly more verbose way to say that you’re busy, well, “completely occupied” is precisely what you’re looking for. This is a fantastic phrase for more formal contexts in which you really want people to understand that you’re just too busy for anything else.
This is a really useful phrase because the use of “completely” gives the audience the impression that your business is all-encompassing, that there is nothing else you can do because you’re so occupied.
Here are some example sentences to showcase how you can use “completely occupied”:
- I’m completely occupied this week, and there’s really nothing I can do about it unfortunately.
- She called to say that she’s completely occupied this month, and asked to reschedule with you.
Too Busy
Sometimes, keeping it simple is for the best. So you can say that you’re “too busy”, and in the correct context, no alternatives will go over better than this. By simply using “too busy”, you’re letting the person know that you don’t have time for anything else.
Naturally, “too busy” is a good alternative for “fully booked” that completely keeps the phrase’s original meaning, while making your language somewhat less formal and stiff.
These are a couple of examples that will show you how sometimes using “too busy” is the best alternative:
- I’m too busy this week but if you really want to have this meeting then I could do it next Monday.
- I called the office and unfortunately this month they’re too busy, but they will use the story soon.
Swamped
A great word you can use to replace “fully booked” is “swamped”. While this is a word that maybe non-native English speakers will not be very familiar with, if you say that you’re “swamped” or even “swamped with work”, then you’ll make it clear that you’re very busy.
This is a fairly casual word to use that you should perhaps avoid in more formal contexts, but if you’re in a casual environment it does a great job of conveying how busy you are.
In case you’re not familiar with how to use the word “swamped”, here are a couple of examples:
- I’m swamped with work this week so our little reunion will have to happen next week, sadly.
- He decided to call her, and she replied by saying she was swamped with meetings this month.
Unavailable
An old classic that you might consider using instead of “fully booked” is “unavailable”. “Unavailable” is appealing for several reasons: Not only is it just one word, which keeps things uncomplicated, but it’s also very direct, and you can use it in a variety of different ways.
You can phrase how busy you are by saying that you’re currently unavailable for bookings, or that you will be unavailable. There are plenty of different variations that you can personally craft.
Here are some examples that include “unavailable” in them:
- I will be unavailable for meetings next week, because I am just too busy with work already.
- Sadly I think I will be unavailable on the 27th, but maybe we can reschedule for the 30th if you can.