occupied

[ ok-yuh-pahyd ]

adjective

1. lived in:

   Now that he is no longer a member of the legislature, he and his family must move out of the occupied premises within 30 days.

2. (of space, time, etc.) taken or filled up:

   Have you ever walked into a public restroom and mistakenly opened an occupied stall?

3. taken possession of and controlled by a hostile military force:

   After Germany invaded in 1914, the Belgian Commission for Relief ensured that Belgians living in the occupied region did not starve.

4. employed or engaged, as one’s attention, energy, etc.; busy:

   He is often bored at home, not receiving much attention or affection from his occupied parents.

5. (of a position, office, etc.) held:

   The amount of the salary markup for working under extraordinary conditions depends on the occupied position.

6. Sometimes Occupied. (of a place) taken possession of and controlled by demonstrators who see it as symbolic of a social or political issue:

   People stopped outside the occupied library to show their support for those inside, who were protesting cuts to public services.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of occupy ( def ).

Other Words From

• o·ver·oc·cu·pied adjective
• self-oc·cu·pied adjective
• un·der·oc·cu·pied adjective
• well-oc·cu·pied adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of occupied¹

occupy ( def ) + -ed ²( def )

Example Sentences

The conclave captures a dilemma that senior executives—and management authors—have faced more frequently while the first “CEO president” occupied the oval office.

From Quartz

NEVs currently occupy around 5% of China’s market, which still makes China the world’s No.

From Fortune

Still, no one would have expected the best defensive team in England to occupy space on the goals-against table next to three teams that played in the second-tier league earlier this year.

From FiveThirtyEight

Plotz said podcasting and on-demand audio now occupies just about every niche where radio once dominated — music, national talk news, sports — but not local news.

From Digiday

He wasn’t the first to say that the Earth occupies the center of the universe, but he was the most dogmatic about it, and believed he had established it to be incontrovertibly true — by using logic.

From Science News

Guilt, when dispensed in the circumstances Morris occupied, is the anti-Viagra.

From The Daily Beast

Visitors today can keep watch over the scene in the booth at the end of the bar that Capone and his cronies once occupied.

From The Daily Beast

The company moved into what was called Bertha Island, and soon become synonymous with the land it occupied.

From The Daily Beast

The Israeli military occupied the south of Lebanon from 1982 until 2000.

From The Daily Beast

Inside two women screamed in front of a bed that occupied the center of the room.

From The Daily Beast

In this position, the line of cavalry formed the chord of the arc described by the river, and occupied by us.

From Project Gutenberg

At the hotel he found the bench outside occupied chiefly by Jean.

From Project Gutenberg

Infantry and cavalry approached the island, quite unsuspicious of its being occupied.

From Project Gutenberg

But dwelling means a special kind of structure—a building occupied by man—a place to live in.

From Project Gutenberg

Scouts reported that Porter still occupied his camp, and showed no sign of moving.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• engaged
• peopled
• populated
• settled