verb
- Engage or engross the interest or attention of beforehand or occupy urgently or obsessively.
- usage: "His work preoccupies him"; "The matter preoccupies her completely-she cannot think of anything else"
- synonyms: preoccupy
- Occupy or take possession of beforehand or before another or appropriate for use in advance.
- usage: "the army preoccupied the hills"
- synonyms: preoccupy
adjective
- Deeply absorbed in thought.
- usage: "as distant and bemused as a professor listening to the prattling of his freshman class"; "lost in thought"; "a preoccupied frown"
- synonyms: bemused, deep in thought, lost
- Having or showing excessive or compulsive concern with something.
- usage: "became more and more haunted by the stupid riddle"; "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"
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). preoccupied. Retrieved September 22, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/preoccupied/definitions/1181273 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "preoccupied" http://smartdefine.org/preoccupied/definitions/1181273 (accessed September 22, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, preoccupied, Smart Define, viewed 22 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/preoccupied/definitions/1181273>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "preoccupied" 23 October 2010. Web. 22 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/preoccupied/definitions/1181273> |