preoccupy
/pɹiˈɑkjupaɪ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.83 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "The father tried to preoccupy the child with his keys."
- "Dr. Beeching's obvious intent is that if Scottish—and similarly unprofitable English and Welsh—railways are to be maintained, it must be done by an unconcealed subsidy; he is determined that the railways shall no longer be preoccupied with—and derided for—immense deficits which include the burden of social services the State must openly underwrite, if it wants them."
- "It always preoccupies me when he acts like this."
- "Terrified at this uproar, […] she ran for shelter into the place which was pre-occupied by the other lady […]."
Etymology
From pre- + occupy, after Middle French preoccuper, and its source, Latin praeoccupo, praeoccupare. Doublet of preoccupate, now obsolete.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /pɹiˈɑkjupaɪ/
- British English: /pɹɪˈɒkjupaɪ/