engaged
Americanadjective
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busy or occupied; involved.
deeply engaged in conversation.
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pledged to be married; betrothed.
an engaged couple.
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under engagement; pledged.
an engaged contractor.
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entered into conflict with.
desperately engaged armies.
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Mechanics.
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(of wheels) in gear with each other.
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Architecture. (of a distinct member) built so as to be truly or seemingly attached in part to the structure before which it stands.
an engaged column.
adjective
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pledged to be married; betrothed
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employed, occupied, or busy
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architect built against or attached to a wall or similar structure
an engaged column
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(of a telephone line) already in use
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of engaged
Explanation
Engaged means fully occupied or having your full attention. An engaged reader really focuses on the words and maybe even jots down questions or comments in the pages' margins. If you're busy or involved with something, you're engaged in it. A formal reply to an invitation to lunch might be, "I'm sorry, I'm otherwise engaged" — meaning you already have plans. Engaged often describes people who have committed to getting married. You can see this meaning in the word's origin, the French word engagier, meaning "to pledge."
Vocabulary lists containing engaged
Michelle Obama's final address as First Lady (2017)
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"What Is News?" and "How to Detect Bias in the News"
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The Great Gilly Hopkins
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The lawsuit alleges that State Farm engaged in illegal and deceptive business practices that kept victims of the Palisades and Eaton fires from receiving what they were entitled to under their policies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
Anyone who hasn’t engaged with the field “in the last 50 years” will think “wagon-wheel chandeliers, very heavy furniture; very, very brown, kind of stuck in the 1950s,” says author Chase Reynolds Ewald.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
For Sambe, the situation reflects an "increasing and openly acknowledged security dependence" of Niger on Russia, which had previously been mainly engaged in the fight against jihadism.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
Readers’ senses are engaged as Muratov pauses in one place or another, such as in the Campagna on the outskirts of Rome.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
The tableau of a little boy engaged in mental combat with a judge, doctor, or college professor some eight or ten times his age was often greeted with mirth and wonder.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
