What's the difference between busy and preoccupied?

Busy


Definition:

  • (a.) Engaged in some business; hard at work (either habitually or only for the time being); occupied with serious affairs; not idle nor at leisure; as, a busy merchant.
  • (a.) Constantly at work; diligent; active.
  • (a.) Crowded with business or activities; -- said of places and times; as, a busy street.
  • (a.) Officious; meddling; foolish active.
  • (a.) Careful; anxious.
  • (v. t.) To make or keep busy; to employ; to engage or keep engaged; to occupy; as, to busy one's self with books.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The bank tellers who saw their positions filled by male superiors took special pleasure in going to the bank and keeping them busy.
  • (2) Community owned and run local businesses are becoming increasingly common.
  • (3) As May delivered her statement in the chamber, police helicopters hovered overhead and a police cordon remained in place around Westminster, but MPs from across the political spectrum were determined to show that they were continuing with business as usual.
  • (4) We want to be sure that the country that’s providing all the infrastructure and support to the business is the one that reaps the reward by being able to collect the tax,” he said.
  • (5) Meanwhile, reductions in tax allowances on dividends for company shareholders from £5,000 down to £2,000 represent another dent to the incomes of many business owners.
  • (6) In 2012, 20% of small and medium-sized businesses were either run solely or mostly by women.
  • (7) In documents due to be published by the bank, it will signal a need to shed costs from a business that employs 10,000 people as it scrambles to return to profit.
  • (8) Businesses fleeing Brexit will head to New York not EU, warns LSE chief Read more Amid attempts by Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin to catch possible fallout from London, Sir Jon Cunliffe said it was highly unlikely that any EU centre could replicate the services offered by the UK’s financial services industry.
  • (9) Richard Hill, deputy chief executive at the Homes & Communities Agency , said: "As social businesses, housing associations already have a good record of re-investing their surpluses to build new homes and improve those of their existing tenants.
  • (10) It has announced a four-stage programme of reforms that will tackle most of these stubborn and longstanding problems, including Cinderella issues such as how energy companies treat their small business customers.
  • (11) We could do with similar action to cut out botnets and spam, but there aren't any big-money lobbyists coming to Mandelson pleading loss of business through those.
  • (12) Proposals to increase the tax on high-earning "non-domiciled" residents in Britain were watered down today, after intense lobbying from the business community.
  • (13) That is what needs to happen for this company, which started out as a rebellious presence in the business, determined to get credit for its creative visionaries.
  • (14) If black people could only sort out these self-inflicted problems themselves, everything would be OK. After all, doesn't every business say it welcomes job applicants from all backgrounds?
  • (15) In a new venture, BDJ Study Tours will offer a separate itinerary for partners on the Study Safari so whilst the business of dentistry gets under way they can explore additional sights in this fascinating country.
  • (16) "As part of this de-leveraging process, the group will also focus on eliminating any loss-making businesses."
  • (17) However, the City focused on the improvement in the fortunes of its Irish business, Ulster bank, and its new mini bad bank which led to a 1.8% rise in the shares to 368p.
  • (18) These lanes encourage cyclists to 'ride in the gutter' which in itself is a very dangerous riding position – especially on busy congested roads as it places the cyclist right in a motorist's blind spot.
  • (19) The last time Vince Cable had a seat in the business department, it was during a high noon of industrial action and state interference in the economy.
  • (20) Martin Wheatley will remain head of the Conduct Business Unit and become the future chief executive of the FCA.

Preoccupied


Definition:

  • (imp. & p. p.) of Preoccupy

Example Sentences:

  • (1) This makes The Red Pill a continuous, multi-voiced, up-to-the-minute male complaint nestled at the heart of the so-called manosphere – a network of websites preoccupied with both the men’s rights movement and how to pick up women.
  • (2) A bereavement during pregnancy is difficult to mourn: a pregnant woman is so increasingly preoccupied with the new life that mourning is interrupted and often impossible to resume later.
  • (3) Alcohol abusers describe themselves as less warm, kind, gentle, and emotionally expressive than their classmates, and were more preoccupied with themes of power in spontaneous fantasy productions.
  • (4) Some journalists have read it as yet another sign that Merkel has lost interest in domestic politics and is preoccupied with challenges on the global stage.
  • (5) Our research has found that leaders are preoccupied with change within their own departments and they struggle to work effectively across boundaries even when there are clearly shared interests.
  • (6) Despite more pronounced somatic complaints, women view their psychological situation more positively than men; they are more optimistic, less anxious, less depressed, and less preoccupied with their illness and its consequences.
  • (7) While Syria , migration and Russia are preoccupying western governments, Israel and Palestine have been largely left to their own devices.
  • (8) While a US presidential visit would normally be expected to command the lion's share of attention in South Korea, the country remains preoccupied with the misery wrought by the sinking of the passenger ferry.
  • (9) It is more important to understand this now than ever before, because never before have we been so preoccupied with social and economic issues: a preoccupation that is threatening to divert our attention from the main determinants of our specialty's future viability--the acquisition and application of new knowledge.
  • (10) The effects of regular aerobic exercise are important to an aging society increasingly preoccupied with exercise.
  • (11) Normally a very friendly fellow, the reasons for 'Arry's lack of chivalry remain unknown, but it's thought he may have been preoccupied by the prospect of bringing triffic fellas Emmanuel Adebayor and Benoît Essou-Akotto to Loftus Road on loan.
  • (12) Republicans accused the administration of putting out the update at a time when Washington was preoccupied with the pope’s visit.
  • (13) Dying and death have scarcely before our time preoccupied so many.
  • (14) Part of Putin's brain is transplanted into Berlusconi's head, turning him into a confused, Russian-speaking, vodka-drinking man, preoccupied with men stuck in a submarine.
  • (15) Nineteen of the 100 veterans had made a postservice suicide attempt, and 15 more had been preoccupied with suicide since the war.
  • (16) On the basis of interviews and printed primary sources, the paper argues that Treasury officials made a less than rigorous assessment of the impact of cafeteria plans because they were preoccupied with a larger agenda of making tax-free benefits more equitable.
  • (17) He says that while he and I would never dream of failing to acknowledge our own children, he believes Turner was too preoccupied to think about them.
  • (18) Women had less to say and seemed less familiar with the discourse on bonding, and were less preoccupied with the establishment of close mother-infant relationship.
  • (19) But I’ll have a chicken curry afterwards.” However, Richard seemed more preoccupied with deciding what to call Morrissey.
  • (20) In their attempts to explain observed patterns in population dynamics and community structure, ecologists have, until recently, been preoccupied with the effects of predation and competition.