preoccupy

American

[pree-ok-yuh-pahy] / priˈɒk yəˌpaɪ /

verb (used with object)

preoccupied, preoccupying

to absorb or engross to the exclusion of other things.
to occupy beforehand or before others.

preoccupy British

/ priːˈɒkjʊˌpaɪ /

verb

to engross the thoughts or mind of
to occupy before or in advance of another

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

overpreoccupy verb (used with object)
preoccupier noun

Etymology

Origin of preoccupy

First recorded in 1560–70; pre- + occupy

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.

We were so preoccupied, I think, by the ordinary things in life, that after a while I did not give much thought to Mutti’s mysterious idea.

From Literature

This preoccupies her, it’s her own mystery that she hasn’t been able to solve.

From Literature

At the top, I pull one of the bottles out of my belt and pretend I’m too preoccupied with drinking water to answer his question.

From Literature

Chinese strategists had described the first two decades of the century as a time of opportunity with the United States preoccupied in Afghanistan and Iraq, Stokes said.

From Barron's

Maybe I’m betraying my hopeless rationalism, but if I learned of the reality of time travel and “aerial spirits,” I’d be a little more preoccupied by it than Iris seems to be.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023