Showing results for "occupied"

• past participle of occupy.
• past tense form of occupy.

occupied

American  

[ok-yuh-pahyd] / ˈɒk jəˌpaɪd /

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.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of occupy.

Other Word Forms

• overoccupied
  adjective
• self-occupied
  adjective
• underoccupied
  adjective
• well-occupied
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of occupied

occupy ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

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Explanation

Something that's occupied is being used or is unavailable. If the sign on the restroom door says occupied, it means there's someone in there and you're just going to have to wait. If every seat on the subway is occupied, you'll have to stand, and if the apartment you were hoping to rent is occupied, you'll have to start your search all over again. When you're busy with work, you're occupied — you're engaged, or distracted by it. And when a country is occupied, it's been invaded and taken over by a foreign power — this last meaning was first used during World War II, referring to German-occupied France.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

occupied

KYIV, Ukraine—As six Ukrainian drones buzzed toward a Russian army warehouse in occupied eastern Ukraine on Monday, the pilots found their connections disrupted.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

He came to the City Hall, which was briefly occupied by protestors on Saturday, and met Marseille's Socialist Mayor Benoît Payan.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

Israeli police said Monday they had arrested 10 people in the occupied West Bank after settler attacks on an American photographer and a French mayor that drew international condemnation but mixed messages from the government.

From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026

They placed a fish into a tank already occupied by another fish, with the two separated by a fiberglass mesh barrier and an opaque cover.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026

Meanwhile, an empty seat, also in the front row, which Fischer was to have occupied, remained conspicuously vacant.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

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Related Words

• engaged
• peopled
• populated
• settled

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