Hustle and bustle means the noise, rush and crowds of a place where lots of people are hurrying somewhere. It is most often said about a big city, a station, a market or the days before a holiday. The expression almost always comes with the: the hustle and bustle of the city. It is neutral and sounds natural both in conversation and in an IELTS essay about city life.
When would you say hustle and bustle?
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the hustle and bustle + of + city/place/life; escape/get away from + the hustle and bustle
- After a week in the hustle and bustle of London, we spent the weekend by the sea.
- I love the hustle and bustle of the market on Saturday mornings.
- My parents moved to a village to escape the hustle and bustle of city life.
What changed
First versionI moved to a small town to get away from the vanity of the big city.
RevisionI moved to a small town to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city.
Vanity can turn up as a dictionary translation for words meaning “fuss”, but in English it means too much pride in yourself, or pointlessness, as in “vanity of vanities”. It says nothing about noise and rush in the streets. The busy life of a city is the hustle and bustle, so the corrected sentence uses that instead of vanity.
Hustle and bustle can be pleasant liveliness or tiring rush, and the context shows which. The opposite is peace and quiet: After a week at the conference, I just want some peace and quiet.
Your turn
On Sunday mornings the streets are empty and quiet, very different from the ___ of a weekday.
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hustle and bustle — Empty, quiet streets on Sunday are contrasted with weekdays through very different from. So weekdays are noisy and crowded: that's the hustle and bustle. Peace and quiet describes Sunday itself, so it doesn't fit here.
Describe a busy place you often go to. Say what exactly makes it so busy and whether you enjoy it.
I enjoy the hustle and bustle of the central station in the evening, when crowds of commuters rush to catch their trains.
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