Preoccupy — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

engage or engross the interest or attention of beforehand or occupy urgently or obsessively

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

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/pɹɪˈɑːkjʊpˌaɪ/

🇬🇧British English

/pɹɪˈɒkjʊpˌaɪ/

🇮🇳Indian English

/pɹɪˈɒkjʊpˌaɪ/

3 syllables Say it as /pɹɪˈɑːkjʊpˌaɪ/.

Examples

His work preoccupies him
The matter preoccupies her completely--she cannot think of anything else
the army preoccupied the hills

Parts of Speech

verb	engage or engross the interest or attention of beforehand or occupy urgently or obsessively “His work preoccupies him”
verb	occupy or take possession of beforehand or before another or appropriate for use in advance “the army preoccupied the hills”

Word Forms

preoccupation	noun	an idea that preoccupies the mind and holds the attention
preoccupancy	noun	the mental state of being preoccupied by something

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

beschäftigen

das Interesse oder die Aufmerksamkeit von vornherein wecken oder in Anspruch nehmen oder sich dringend oder obsessiv beschäftigen

🇫🇷French

préoccuper

engager ou capter l'intérêt ou l'attention d'au préalable ou occuper de manière urgente ou obsessionnelle

🇪🇸Spanish

preocupar

atraer o absorber el interés o la atención de antemano u ocupar de manera urgente u obsesiva

🇮🇹Italian

preoccuparsi

impegnare o assorbire l'interesse o l'attenzione di in anticipo o occuparlo urgentemente o ossessivamente

🇳🇱Dutch

bezig zijn

vooraf de interesse of aandacht boeien of in beslag nemen, of dringend of obsessief bezig zijn

🇵🇹Portuguese

preocupar

🇷🇺Russian

озабоченный

заранее привлечь интерес или внимание или занять срочно или навязчиво

India

🇮🇳Hindi

पहिले से ग्रहण करना

पहले से ही रुचि या ध्यान आकर्षित करना या आकर्षित करना या तत्काल या जुनूनी रूप से कब्जा करना

🇧🇩Bengali

ব্যস্ততা

আগে থেকে আগ্রহ বা মনোযোগ নিযুক্ত করা বা নিমগ্ন করা বা জরুরীভাবে বা আবেশে দখল করা

🇮🇳Tamil

கவலை

முன்கூட்டியே ஆர்வம் அல்லது கவனத்தை ஈடுபடுத்துதல் அல்லது ஈடுபடுத்துதல் அல்லது அவசரமாக அல்லது வெறித்தனமாக ஆக்கிரமித்தல்

🇮🇳Telugu

నిమగ్నమై

ముందుగా ఆసక్తి లేదా దృష్టిని నిమగ్నం చేయండి లేదా నిమగ్నం చేయండి లేదా అత్యవసరంగా లేదా అబ్సెసివ్‌గా ఆక్రమించండి

🇮🇳Marathi

व्यस्त

आधीपासून स्वारस्य किंवा लक्ष वेधून घेणे किंवा तात्काळ किंवा वेडेपणाने व्यापणे

🇮🇳Gujarati

વ્યસ્ત રહેવું

અગાઉથી રસ અથવા ધ્યાન આકર્ષિત કરો અથવા રોકો અથવા તાત્કાલિક અથવા બાધ્યતા રૂપે કબજો કરો

🇮🇳Kannada

ಪೂರ್ವಭಾವಿಯಾಗಿ

ಮುಂಚಿತವಾಗಿ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ಅಥವಾ ಗಮನವನ್ನು ತೊಡಗಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ ಅಥವಾ ತೊಡಗಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ ಅಥವಾ ತುರ್ತಾಗಿ ಅಥವಾ ಗೀಳಿನಿಂದ ಆಕ್ರಮಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ

🇮🇳Malayalam

മുൻതൂക്കം

മുൻകൂട്ടി താൽപ്പര്യമോ ശ്രദ്ധയോ ഏർപ്പെടുക അല്ലെങ്കിൽ മുഴുകുക അല്ലെങ്കിൽ അടിയന്തിരമായി അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ഭ്രാന്തമായി ഏറ്റെടുക്കുക

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਸ਼ੌਕ

ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਦਿਲਚਸਪੀ ਜਾਂ ਧਿਆਨ ਖਿੱਚੋ ਜਾਂ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ ਕਰੋ ਜਾਂ ਤੁਰੰਤ ਜਾਂ ਜਨੂੰਨਤਾ ਨਾਲ ਕਬਜ਼ਾ ਕਰੋ

🇵🇰Urdu

مشغول

پہلے سے دلچسپی یا توجہ کو مشغول یا مشغول کرنا یا فوری طور پر یا جنونی طور پر قبضہ کرنا

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

全神贯注

预先引起或吸引或紧急或着迷地占据兴趣或注意力

🇯🇵Japanese

夢中になる

事前に興味や注意を引き付ける、夢中にさせる、または緊急にまたは執拗に占有する

🇰🇷Korean

선점하다

사전에 다른 사람의 관심이나 주의를 끌거나 열중시키거나, 급하게 또는 강박적으로 점유합니다.

🇻🇳Vietnamese

bận tâm

thu hút hoặc thu hút sự quan tâm hoặc chú ý trước đó hoặc chiếm giữ một cách khẩn cấp hoặc ám ảnh

🇹🇭Thai

หมกมุ่น

มีส่วนร่วมหรือครอบงำความสนใจหรือความสนใจล่วงหน้าหรือครอบครองอย่างเร่งด่วนหรือครอบงำ

🇮🇩Indonesian

menyita pikiran

melibatkan atau menyita minat atau perhatian sebelumnya atau menempati secara mendesak atau obsesif

🇵🇭Filipino

abala

hikayatin o ipagpatuloy ang interes o atensyon ng una o sakupin nang madalian o obsessively

🇲🇾Malay

kesibukan

melibatkan atau mengasyikkan minat atau perhatian terlebih dahulu atau menduduki dengan segera atau obsesif

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

انشغال

إشراك أو جذب الاهتمام أو الاهتمام مسبقًا أو شغله بشكل عاجل أو مهووس

🇮🇷Persian

مشغول کردن

علاقه یا توجه را از قبل درگیر یا جذب کنید یا به طور فوری یا وسواسی مشغول شوید

🇹🇷Turkish

meşgul olmak

önceden ilgi veya dikkatini meşgul etmek veya meşgul etmek veya acilen veya takıntılı bir şekilde meşgul olmak

🇮🇱Hebrew

להעסיק

לעסוק או לשאוב את העניין או את תשומת הלב מראש או להעסיק בדחיפות או באובססיביות

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'preoccupy'?

The primary meaning of 'preoccupy' is 'engage or engross the interest or attention of beforehand or occupy urgently or obsessively'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'preoccupy' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'preoccupy' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'preoccupy' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'preoccupy' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'preoccupy' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'preoccupy' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'preoccupy' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'preoccupy' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'preoccupy' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'preoccupy' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted