How to Use preoccupied in a Sentence

preoccupied

adjective
Definition of preoccupiednext
Synonyms for preoccupiednext
  • The man placed his hand on the preoccupied boy’s shoulder.
    — Joseph Clark, cleveland, 25 Nov. 2019
  • In any case, the rapid spread of the memes was a clear sign of how preoccupied young people were with the airstrike and the looming question of what would come next.
    — New York Times, 5 Jan. 2020
  • There are times when I’ve become preoccupied with my (lack of a) love life.
    — Sana Panjwani, refinery29.com, 14 Sep. 2021
  • The book paints a picture of a preoccupied Trump who couldn't stop thinking about Biden.
    — Catherine Garcia, The Week, 8 June 2021
  • The signs seem to suggest that voters are more preoccupied with the former.
    — Aaron Blake, Anchorage Daily News, 8 Nov. 2022
  • The vultures were nervous at first and much more preoccupied with the shick-shick-shick-shick-shick of Stone’s camera than the pumpkin.
    — Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 25 Oct. 2022
  • The Dodgers and their fans are far more preoccupied with the San Francisco Giants.
    — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2021
  • Cole Sprouse is once again hitting back at fans who are a little too preoccupied with his love life.
    — Glamour, 3 Sep. 2021
  • Or were you too preoccupied still trying to make Nate’s character arc make a lick of sense?
    — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2024
  • Young fought back with one of his seven 3-pointers on the night, and while preoccupied with the guard, Indiana gave up a wide-open layup to Len to knot things at 99-apiece.
    — Nathan Brown, Indianapolis Star, 29 Nov. 2019
  • Elsa is far too preoccupied trying to deal with the conflict in her own life to obsess about princes.
    — Carol Dyhouse, Time, 19 Apr. 2021
  • But consider a universe where more people don’t have to time their lives to the rhythm of rush hour — and where whole cities aren’t so preoccupied by what to do about it.
    — New York Times, 11 June 2021
  • Other descendants warn about the dangers of living in the past or are too preoccupied with hardships of the present.
    — Reuters, CNN, 27 Oct. 2020
  • Training keeps a dog’s mind busy and less preoccupied with outside noise.
    — Cathy M. Rosenthal, San Antonio Express-News, 4 Feb. 2021
  • The vote sparked anger among parents who argued that the school board was more preoccupied with changing the names of schools than coming up with a plan to get kids back in classrooms.
    — Bradford Betz, Fox News, 19 Mar. 2021
  • Most cities have such resources, and your friends may be too preoccupied to do the necessary research.
    — New York Times, 9 Nov. 2021
  • The preoccupied officer appeared to be doing the math in his head.
    — Seth Lipsky, WSJ, 7 Sep. 2020
  • The Beast in the Jungle (1903), one of his younger brother Henry James's most famous stories, describes a man too preoccupied with a sense of doom to love.
    — TheWeek, 2 Feb. 2020
  • Loved ones may feel abandoned by the preoccupied frontline worker and so feel angry and hurt.
    — Gary Stix, Scientific American, 10 Sep. 2020
  • The fathers, many of whom worked corporate jobs, were too preoccupied to help raise their children.
    — New York Times, 15 Dec. 2021
  • But Trump, who does not take part in the task force meetings, remains preoccupied with last week’s election results.
    — Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller, chicagotribune.com, 12 Nov. 2020
  • Gut said her mother and brother were too preoccupied with the situation back home to speak to CNN.
    — Ray Sanchez, CNN, 6 Mar. 2022
  • Still, Kevin had always found the surgeon to be caring, if a little preoccupied.
    — Ava Kofman, ProPublica, 26 June 2023
  • Female bees, looking for a home, are usually too preoccupied with their search to sting you.
    — Lila Westreich, The Conversation, 1 May 2020
  • But each is too preoccupied with internal problems to take up the matter.
    — John F. Clark, Fortune, 27 June 2023
  • As Hu’s due date approached, O’Loughlin became preoccupied with the idea of suing the company.
    — Longreads, 6 Apr. 2023
  • Please tell your readers that some people do not want to carry on a conversation on a plane, and some, like me, are too tired, too sad or too preoccupied to talk.
    — Washington Post, 17 Sep. 2021
  • Local lawmakers have said that Walgreens is too preoccupied with boosting profits, that theft isn’t that bad, and that the chain should just suck up the losses.
    — Jason L. Riley, WSJ, 19 Oct. 2021
  • There’s an image that recurs in the novel of a cliff that suddenly appears in the middle of a woman’s life, and the narrator is kind of preoccupied with this.
    — Liam Hess, Vogue, 26 Sep. 2023
  • And, activists warn, things may only get worse as the world looks away, fatigued with Afghanistan’s decades-long wars and too preoccupied with their own domestic issues.
    — Jessie Yeung, CNN, 15 Aug. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'preoccupied.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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