preoccupy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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“Acting involved pretending to be other people, whose own emotional states —such as she understood them — could preoccupy her for a time,” writes Cusk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
That, along with the Knicks players' return from San Antonio, will preoccupy this city with basketball for a few more days.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
“If the Iran situation lingers, it will preoccupy more and more of Congress’ time,” said Stifel Chief Washington Strategist Brian Gardner.
From Barron's ● Mar. 3, 2026
What will preoccupy us in a century, fuel our ambitions and stir our fears, will probably be something we can’t even imagine today.
From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2025
Of course, the dreams that I had during my illness continued to preoccupy me.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
This season, an event of global significance preoccupies the nuns and nurses of Nonnatus House: Their branch office in Hong Kong has fallen into the street.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
This is a really critical piece that preoccupies me: what that does to our ability to organize and be in solidarity.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2023
From watching Indian movies, it would seem as if no issue preoccupies young Indians more than romantic love.
From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2021
This sort of shift in institutional thinking preoccupies Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, who was recently named the Peabody Essex Museum’s first female director in its 221-year history.
From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2021
This preoccupies her, it’s her own mystery that she hasn’t been able to solve.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
But Vance reiterated that he was preoccupied with being vice-president, explaining: "What I'm trying to focus on is doing as much of God's work as possible right now."
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
But like the current wellness movement, looksmaxxers are preoccupied with masculinity.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026
The London-reared actor and former Ralph Lauren model comes across as a mild-mannered Gen Z type who runs his words together and is preoccupied with being cute.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
In a community where residents are preoccupied with their own difficult recovery journeys, the unity was noteworthy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Ruby had been much preoccupied of late, and had not noticed the change in Sarai, let alone guessed its cause.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
With the use of personal data by AI models preoccupying authorities, particularly in Europe, Berners-Lee has made data protection his main cause in recent years, notably through the startup Inrupt.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
An unremarkable-looking plan for a new factory in Poland cuts to the heart of big questions that are preoccupying governments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
The debate over the timing of rate cuts is preoccupying policymakers at several major central banks.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
“What is preoccupying my brain, my everything, is just the fear of what’s going to happen next,” he said in an interview.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 21, 2023
Phineas had one of those minds which could record what is happening in the background and do nothing about it because something else was preoccupying him.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
Vocabulary lists containing preoccupy
