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preoccupancy

American  
[pree-ok-yuh-puhn-see] / priˈɒk yə pən si /

noun

  1. the act, right, or instance of prior occupancy.

  2. the state of being absorbed in thought; preoccupation.

Etymology

Origin of preoccupancy

First recorded in 1745–55; pre- + occupancy

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.

It is essential that similar preoccupancy should not become accepted as a species of jurisprudence among the people comprising the League.

From Time Magazine Archive

A preoccupancy with religious characteristics assists those who are interested in the problem of sublimation.

From Adventures in the Arts Informal Chapters on Painters, Vaudeville, and Poets by Hartley, Marsden

With this entire preoccupancy of the ground, and these common though unworthy dispositions in its favor, the wonder is, that it is not more popular.

From Thoughts on African Colonization by Garrison, William Lloyd

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.