preoccupy
UK /pɹɪˈɒkjupaɪ/ · US /pɹiˈɑkjupaɪ/ verb
Forms preoccupies preoccupying preoccupied
- verb (transitive) To distract; to draw attention elsewhere. “The father tried to preoccupy the child with his keys.”
- verb (transitive) To worry or concern (someone) so as to distract them. “It always preoccupies me when he acts like this.”
- verb (transitive, obsolete) To occupy or take possession of beforehand.
Synonyms
Etymology
From pre- + occupy, after Middle French preoccuper, and its source, Latin praeoccupo, praeoccupare. Doublet of preoccupate, now obsolete.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To take possession of before another; as, to preoccupy a country not before held.
- verb To prepossess; to engage, occupy, or engross the attention of, beforehand; hence, to prejudice.
Etymology [Cf. F. préoccuper. See Preoccupate, Occupy.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “preoccupy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details