preoccupation
Americannoun
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the state of being preoccupied, esp mentally
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something that holds the attention or preoccupies the mind
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of preoccupation
1530–40; < Latin praeoccupātiōn- (stem of praeoccupātiō ) a taking possession beforehand. See pre-, occupation
Explanation
Preoccupation is a state where you're absorbed in something. You may have a preoccupation with video games or Hello Kitty, for example, if you can't keep your mind off those things. We all have our preoccupations: ideas and things that we just can't stop thinking about. Just as an occupation means someone is living somewhere, a preoccupation is an idea that's moved in to our minds. One person's preoccupation might be making more money, while another person's preoccupation could be learning to ride a motorcycle. We can also say that someone who is engrossed or absorbed in something is in a state of preoccupation; they're preoccupied.
Vocabulary lists containing preoccupation
"There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury
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Tuesdays with Morrie
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And Then There Were None
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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.
Ternus’s approach to Apple is Jobs-like, down to a preoccupation with small details like screws.
From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026
This preoccupation resurfaces at Regen in a large-scale print of 2023’s “Flight Honolulu to Guam,” revealing a star field above the clouds.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2026
The peculiar alchemy that causes us to click with some people and not with others—romantically or platonically—has been a preoccupation of poets for centuries, but it has only recently drawn the attention of scientists.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026
Obtaining dollars to buy raw materials like oil, flour or rice to then refine and process became Kazin’s chief preoccupation.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 8, 2026
In adopting the term ‘theory’ the scientists were thus freeing themselves from the philosophers’ preoccupation with truth in so far as it implied knowledge of causes and of what Aristotelian philosophers called substances, or forms.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
