OCCUPIED Synonyms: 95 Similar and Opposite Words

occupied 1 of 2

adjective

as in engaged

involved in often constant activity the boy is constantly occupied, usually with sports or schoolwork

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

occupied

2 of 2

verb

past tense of occupy

as in interested

to hold the attention of a puzzle will occupy that child for hours

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of occupied

Adjective

Lebanon’s health ministry said that two ⁠men were killed in a town on the edge of ⁠the zone occupied by Israeli troops, while the two women were killed in Arab Salim, which sits well north of the occupied area. — Reuters, NBC news, 6 Sep. 2026 Prosecutors say Castro briefly struggled with Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, then fired through a front door into an occupied home, hitting him in the leg, contradicting earlier federal accounts. — Valerie Gonzalez, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026 Osder visited Israel and the occupied West Bank and came to understand his heritage with a new sense of privilege and responsibility. — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 31 Aug. 2026 Jerusalem — Israeli settlers stormed a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank on Saturday and seized a home while its owner was inside in the latest brazen settler attack in the area. — Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026 According to Leonid Pasechnik, who heads the occupied Luhansk region, five others were injured across the province. — ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026 Ten years ago, Frank Lowenstein, then the United States special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, presented President Barack Obama with maps of settlements by Israeli Jews in the occupied West Bank. — David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2026 Their displays adapt to occupied seats, giving the nearest rider full control while unused screens show trip status or ambient imagery. — Melinda Sheckells, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2026 Israel sharply criticized the UK after London voiced opposition to the Jewish state’s support for settlements in the occupied West Bank, the latest in a series of rows with once strong Western allies. — Tasneem Nashrulla, semafor.com, 20 Aug. 2026

Verb

Tom Bonser, who was chief financial officer, left in January and has since taken on a new position at Fulham — although his role is now filled by Tom Rawcliffe, who previously occupied similar jobs at AFC Wimbledon and Bristol City. — Paul Taylor, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026 Israel argues that the territory is disputed rather than occupied, and asserts that Jews have a historical right to the land. — Reuters, NBC news, 8 Sep. 2026 On July 7, two weeks after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, the predominantly Jewish town of Berdichev, where Grossman’s disabled mother was living, was occupied by the German army. — Nick Holdstock, The Dial, 8 Sep. 2026 The SoHo location at 527 Broome Street was already occupied — by his own restaurant, Her Name Was Carmen. — Kristen Tauer, Footwear News, 8 Sep. 2026 In the early months of 2022, Russian forces occupied Irpin, destroying roughly 70% of the city. — Aidan Stretch, CBS News, 8 Sep. 2026 Volunteer Mitchel Reising cleans a pen occupied by elephant seals 3. — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026 These ideas flew over our heads as kids, and we were mostly occupied by the pretty lights and awesome fight scenes. — George Yang, Space.com, 1 Sep. 2026 Princeton, Duke, Harvard, MIT, Dartmouth, Penn, Notre Dame, Cornell, Yale and Stanford occupied the top 10 spots. — Jason St. Angelo, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for occupied

Adjective

The city offered a large stadium, a useful location on the eastern seaboard and an engaged venue and franchise owner.

— Daniel Gallan, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
Today, times are good for the city of 17,000 thanks to its big businesses, small-town charm and engaged citizens, Mayor Chris Pimentel told The Times.

— Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of engaged

Verb

This question interested me as a computational biophysicist who studies how living systems process information and adapt to changing environments.

— Shiladitya Banerjee, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2026
Your three films to date reveal you as a filmmaker interested in structure.

— Matt Grobar, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of interested

Adjective

Alex Steen’s first summer in the big chair was busy, but everything mostly made sense.

— Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Amenities and experiences Harmon Guest House smartly devotes most of its real estate to guest rooms, allowing for maximum comfort in a busy area.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of busy

Verb

For the past eight months, Michigan players have been immersed in The Whittingham Way.

— Austin Meek, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Her brand Bugatchi is celebrating its 45th anniversary and has more than 1,000 retail customers, a solid design and research team, and a robust shop-in-shop program, plus two of her sons are immersed in the business.

— Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of immersed

Adjective

These students impressed us with their discerning angles, diligent research, and captivating storytelling.

— Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
Like other luxury houses and designers, Chanel is diligent about protecting its trademarks, creative assets and design rights.

— Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of diligent

Verb

But he’s intrigued enough to take the file from Emma anyway and quickly concludes, along with River, that Loy did not break his own arm and then barbecue himself making marshmallows.

— Scott Tobias, Vulture, 16 Sep. 2026
When a solar sales team showed up at Craig McKinney's Waxahachie home last year, he was intrigued.

— Erin Jones, CBS News, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of intrigued

Verb

If travel or education is involved, research the first cost and deadline.

— Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 12 Sep. 2026
He is financially involved in nearly every aspect of the court and, despite being 60, even attempted to play in a professional tournament last year.

— Chris Branch, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of involved

Verb

As Oppenheim put it at the film’s Venice press conference, he’d long been fascinated by Hansen, and only became more so after his wife gifted him a Cameo from the host for his birthday.

— Nate Jones, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2026
Here are four more scammers who fascinated people on the internet – plus one who people thought was a scammer but turned out not to be.

— Owen Carry, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of fascinated

Browse Nearby Words

occupations

occupied

occupier

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Occupied.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/occupied. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of occupied

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

churlish

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Popular in Wordplay

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18

Popular

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Games & Quizzes