preoccupy

verb

pre·​oc·​cu·​py (ˌ)prē-ˈä-kyə-ˌpī 

preoccupied; preoccupying; preoccupies

transitive verb

1

: to engage or engross the interest or attention of beforehand or preferentially

2

: to take possession of or fill beforehand or before another

Examples of preoccupy in a Sentence

The question of life after death has preoccupied many philosophers.

Recent Examples on the Web

Gemma has been preoccupied with her efforts to publicly atone for creating a murderous AI doll, and so Cady has had to get crafty in order to explore her budding interest in coding. —Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 25 June 2025

To preoccupy is to dominate or engross the mind to the exclusion of other thoughts. —Eli Amdur, Forbes.com, 24 June 2025

Yet he is also preoccupied with instilling a sense of idealism and conviction in both the party and the rest of the Chinese population. —Joseph Torigian, Foreign Affairs, 23 June 2025

But all that will change once the future of humanity is called into question by an otherworldly threat, and the actual Justice League is preoccupied/unable to save the day. —Ryan Schwartz, TVLine, 12 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin praeoccupare, literally, to seize in advance, from prae- + occupare to seize, occupy

First Known Use

1567, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for preoccupy

• acidify
• alveoli
• areolae
• demystify
• detoxify
• disqualify
• diversify
• electrify
• exemplify
• fasciculi
• identify
• indemnify

Kids Definition

preoccupy

verb

pre·​oc·​cu·​py (ˈ)prē-ˈäk-yə-ˌpī 

1

: to hold the attention of beforehand

2

: to take possession of before another

preoccupation

(ˌ)prē-ˌäk-yə-ˈpā-shən

noun