as in fascinates
to be thought about or worried about by (someone) very often or constantly
The question of life after death has preoccupied many philosophers.
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Recent Examples of preoccupies
In other versions, the demon preoccupies himself with people who’ve fallen asleep in church, carefully noting down every snore.
—
JSTOR Daily, 31 Oct. 2025
JSTOR Daily, 31 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for preoccupies
Verb
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At the moment, Philadelphia fascinates me most, a Play-In team that has enough talent to make a run to the finals.—
Chris Branch,
New York Times,
4 May 2026
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Precious artifacts have been recently unearthed from the site that fascinates scholars worldwide.—
Sharon Chin,
CBS News,
1 May 2026
Verb
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What about these communities intrigues you and why set the story in that location?—
Maira Garcia,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
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The menu has a lot of delicious choices, but the one that intrigues my girlfriend is their overnight oat bowl.—
C.W. Cameron,
AJC.com,
1 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But Mary Bennet isn’t the only character in Jane Austen’s novels who Jane Austen gives a bit of a side eye to and that is really what interests me.—
K.J. Yossman,
Variety,
7 May 2026
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What interests me more, however, is where Kneecap get their information.—
Lily Moayeri,
SPIN,
6 May 2026
Verb
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We are told that raising these questions distracts from the issues that matter, such as rising costs, persistent crime and the condition of our city.—
Mark Conway,
Baltimore Sun,
9 May 2026
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Or maybe a still-working phonograph of Edison’s invention distracts you, until a wall of portraits of 1920s electrical manufacturing workers pulls your gaze in a new direction.—
Michael Kilian,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Preoccupies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/preoccupies. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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