preoccupation

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.

He has turned the subject of being Israeli into a career-long preoccupation, approached with a sense of queasiness.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Horror has long been a preoccupation for Boston.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

The preoccupation of all the elephants—not just for the males, but the females who no longer have babies traveling in their extended herds—is mating.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 13, 2026

Obtaining dollars to buy raw materials like oil, flour or rice to then refine and process became Kazin’s chief preoccupation.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 8, 2026

To exaggerate a bit, the one-in-eleven figure is a little like saying that nine out of ten people will develop age spots, which doesn’t mean it should be a major preoccupation of thirty-year-olds.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos