What is the opposite of "busy schedule"? I read the forum at this link, and it says "loose schedule" is not a good choice. What is the common adjective for this?
asked Jan 16, 2014 at 14:23
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1According to your link, someone mentioned "my schedule is open". Perhaps, a loose schedule is too easy to be interpreted as not a well-prepared schedule. To me, easy schedule, loose schedule and open schedule can mean almost the same thing, i.e. the opposite of busy schedule.– Damkerng T.Jan 16, 2014 at 14:46
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3I agree with DT; open is a good choice. We can also say, "I'm pretty open next week" to mean "my schedule is open next week." As an aside, I've been known to say, "My schedule is sparsely populated," but that was only in places where I could get away with sounding a bit odd or quirky; I wouldn't necessarily recommend that wording for day-to-day use.– J.R. ♦Jan 16, 2014 at 15:14
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1@Lester: As you obviously know, "loose schedule" is not an idiomatic term. But in case you didn't realise, a tight schedule is more often used in contexts where there is only just enough time to meet the scheduled deadline for a project. It doesn't necessarily imply that any of the individual people working on it have full "appointment diaries".– FumbleFingersJan 16, 2014 at 18:52
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How about "unbusy schedule"?– user3214Jan 16, 2014 at 21:25
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1I would like to suggest "idle schedule" too.– user3214Jan 16, 2014 at 21:34
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4 Answers
Depends a bit on what you mean by "opposite", but the best choice is probably "open". "My schedule is open" means that, while you may have some things scheduled, they are few and far between, so it should be easy for you to fit something else in there.
"My schedule is empty" goes even further than "open": it means you have nothing planned.
"My schedule is loose" would be a way to say that your schedule is flexible (though personally, I would stick to the latter word in this context). In other words, you have things planned — perhaps lots of things — but you can move them around if needed. It's perfectly possible to be busy and flexible at the same time.
"I have an easy schedule for tomorrow" means that the things you have planned are all simple tasks that you will be able to complete without much effort. There is also some implication that at least parts of your schedule are open, because part of being easy is not having any time pressure. (Peeling a potato is a simple task if you have 10 minutes to do it. If you only have 30 seconds, suddenly it's a stressful & difficult activity.)
If what you're looking for is a way to say the opposite of "I'm busy", i.e. without the word "schedule" in there, then your best bet is to simply negate the statement: "I'm not busy".
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1'Open' usually equates to 'empty.' Otherwise, you'd run into issues like this: Person1: "How's your schedule tomorrow?" Person2: "My schedule is open." Person1: "Cool, how about lunch, say at 11:30?" Person2: "Oh, I've got something then, how about the next day?" Jan 16, 2014 at 15:16
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@MrWonderful, if Person2's schedule was really "open", his reply would be more like "Hm, 12:00 would work better for me."– MarthaJan 16, 2014 at 15:51
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4You can also qualify it: "My schedule is pretty open" = there are a few things on it but it should be easy to find a time that works for both of you, or "my schedule is wide open" = there are large stretches of un-allocated time.– HellionJan 16, 2014 at 16:09
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1@Martha, I can only comment on my own usage, but if I had something at 11:30, I would not have responded with "My schedule is open." Instead, I may have said "I'm clear except for a meeting at 11:30," or, more likely, would have said "Light. Why, what do you have in mind?" Thank you for keeping me honest! :-) Jan 16, 2014 at 19:34
Another way to say this is that you have lots of free time.
I've also heard people aiming for a relaxed schedule, meaning there's lots of downtime between individual appointments, allowing for meetings to be extended or picking up something to eat in between.
However, the term could also be understood to refer to a loose schedule, eg. that coming 15-30 minutes late would be completely okay.
"My schedule is light." That is the opposite of a heavy schedule. A schedule isn't busy, the person is busy. A schedule can also be described as "full", "clear", or "open".
