Sample Sentences for
preoccupied
(editor-reviewed)

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  • •
    The thought of what comes next has me preoccupied.  (source)
    preoccupied = distracted (thinking about it)
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    He was so preoccupied with Sattler that it was a moment before he realized his mistake.  (source)
    preoccupied = distracted
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    We had to go past the nurses' desk to get to the door, but the girl in white seemed preoccupied, sitting with her head down, writing something.  (source)
    preoccupied = distracted (so she didn't notice)
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Show 10 more with 7 word variations
  • •
    She knew I was preoccupied by Grandpa, but my head was also filled now with storytellers and magicians in dark caves.  (source)
    preoccupied = took up the attention of
  • •
    I never understood her preoccupation with heredity.  (source)
    preoccupation = continual thought and interest
    standard suffix: The suffix "-tion", converts a verb into a noun that denotes the action or result of the verb. Typically, there is a slight change in the ending of the root verb, as in action, education, and observation.
  • •
    Alessandro's struggles and preoccupations centered on hope and will.†  (source)
    standard suffix: The suffix "-tions", converts a verb into a plural noun that denotes results of the verb. Typically, there is a slight change in the ending of the root verb, as in actions, illustrations, and observations.
  • •
    "Why did you enlist, son?" he asked, voicing the question that had been preoccupying him since they first met.†  (source)
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    Of course, the dreams that I had during my illness continued to preoccupy me.†  (source)
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    West on Spring Street to the site of the construction that preoccupies him.†  (source)
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    Hence, in his intercourse with Chang, he was sufficiently unpreoccupied to see in him a mannered old gentleman who might not be entirely trustworthy, but who was certainly of high intelligence.†  (source)
    standard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unpreoccupied means not and reverses the meaning of preoccupied. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
  • •
    He didn't answer Lydia. Preoccupied, he let the lights glow softly on ahead of him, extinguish behind him as he padded to the nursery door.  (source)
    Preoccupied = busy thinking about something else
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    She passed an art gallery, almost walked by it in her preoccupation, then turned and went back.  (source)
    preoccupation = involvement thinking about something
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    Metty, too, was like a man with preoccupations.†  (source)
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