PREOCCUPIED • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Preoccupied

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/priˈɑkjəpˌaɪd/ Listen

Preoccupied

adjective

1.

Deeply absorbed in thought. Synonyms: bemused, deep in thought, lost. "Lost in thought" , "A preoccupied frown"

2.

Having or showing excessive or compulsive concern with something. Synonyms: haunted, obsessed, taken up. "Was absolutely obsessed with the girl" , "Got no help from his wife who was preoccupied with the children" , "He was taken up in worry for the old woman"

Preoccupy

verb

(past & past part. preoccupied; pres. part. preoccupying)

1.

Engage or engross the interest or attention of beforehand or occupy urgently or obsessively. "The matter preoccupies her completely--she cannot think of anything else"

2.

Occupy or take possession of beforehand or before another or appropriate for use in advance.

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Etymology of 'Preoccupied'

WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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"Preoccupied" Quotes from Famous Books

... of the firm thus preoccupied the business "winked out." Berry died, leaving Lincoln the debts of the firm, twelve hundred dollars,—to him an appalling sum, which he humorously called "the national debt"; and on which he continued ...

— Life of Abraham Lincoln - Little Blue Book Ten Cent Pocket Series No. 324 • John Hugh Bowers

... Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left." This plainly implies an acknowledged right in either to occupy whatever ground he pleased that was not preoccupied by other tribes. "And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, even as the garden of the Lord. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan, and journeyed east; and Abraham dwelt ...

— McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader • William Holmes McGuffey

... while Walter Fetherston was preoccupied by these curious apprehensions, the original of that old carte-de-visite was seated in the lounge of the Savoy Hotel, smoking a cigar with a tall, broad-shouldered, red-bearded man ...

— The Doctor of Pimlico - Being the Disclosure of a Great Crime • William Le Queux

... through a crowded room and notice that some of its occupants are not adding their voices to the chatter. We resolve to study these unspeaking persons. Some of them merely have nothing to say, or are timid or preoccupied; or it may be they deliberately have set themselves not to talk. These are silent. Some plainly desire not to talk, it may be in general or it may be upon some particular topic; they may (but need not) regard themselves as superior to their associates, ...

— The Century Vocabulary Builder • Creever & Bachelor

... by Dorothy's side, trying to bring back her strength. It entered my mind at times that after all I was not as tender a husband to Dorothy as I should have been. I was with her a good deal, to be sure. At the same time, I was much preoccupied. She did not like politics, and could not share my interest in that direction. The condition of the country really distressed her. She had seen slavery in its benign aspect, and she was impatient with any criticism ...

— Children of the Market Place • Edgar Lee Masters

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