(v. t.) To take possession of before another; as, to preoccupy a country not before held.
(v. t.) To prepossess; to engage, occupy, or engross the attention of, beforehand; hence, to prejudice.
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.
Worry
Definition:
(v. t.) To harass by pursuit and barking; to attack repeatedly; also, to tear or mangle with the teeth.
(v. t.) To harass or beset with importunity, or with care an anxiety; to vex; to annoy; to torment; to tease; to fret; to trouble; to plague.
(v. t.) To harass with labor; to fatigue.
(v. i.) To feel or express undue care and anxiety; to manifest disquietude or pain; to be fretful; to chafe; as, the child worries; the horse worries.
(n.) A state of undue solicitude; a state of disturbance from care and anxiety; vexation; anxiety; fret; as, to be in a worry.
Example Sentences:
(1) But the position of locum GPs remains worryingly unsure.
(2) I know I have the courage to deal with all the sniping but you worry about the effects on your family."
(3) If Lagarde had been placed under formal investigation in the Tapie case, it would have risked weakening her position and further embarrassing both the IMF and France by heaping more judicial worries on a key figure on the international stage.
(4) In Paris, a foreign ministry spokesman, Romain Nadal, said the French authorities were “fully mobilised to help Serge Atlaoui, whose situation remains very worrying”.
(5) Amid all of the worry about her health, the difficult decisions around the surgery, and how to explain everything to the children, the practicalities of postponing the holiday was a relatively minor consideration.
(6) The secrecy worries me if those decisions are being made without giving us the ability to hold them to account,” says Conservative London Assembly member Andrew Boff.
(7) At the People’s Question Time in Pendle, an elderly man called Roland makes a short, powerful speech about the sacrifices made for the right to vote and says he’s worried for the future of the NHS.
(8) Wimbledon said the world No1 Williams had been suffering from a viral illness and it was a sad and bizarre end to the American’s tournament, not to mention a worrying sight, seeing her hardly able to play.
(9) The only explanation he can come up with is that Cameron is worried about his legacy.
(10) There is no doubt about it that there are authorities that have a greater need for public health money than ourselves, but Surrey still has issues and worries about certain social factors within public health," he said.
(11) Davies, who worked closely with AHTSYL's producers to ensure an accurate picture, worries that some medical stories are sold solely as "emotional journeys".
(12) "We believe BAE's earnings could stagnate until the middle of this decade," said Goldman, which was also worried that performance fees on a joint fighter programme in America had been withheld by the Pentagon, and the company still had a yawning pension deficit.
(13) The big worry here is: even if the data broker reports aggregate data, a) it has this information on an individual level – how else might it use it?
(14) It took a little bit of time to come up on the scoreboard, so I was a bit worried.
(15) Former acting director of the CIA, Michael Morell, also weighed in for Clinton in a New York Times opinion piece on Friday, declaring: “Donald J Trump is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well pose a threat to our national security.” Republicans stumbling from the wreckage of a terrible week are worrying about how to contain the damage further down the ballot paper in November as people running for seats in Congress and at state level risk being swept away.
(16) Non-worriers evidenced the same disruptive effects in the 15-worry condition as worriers in that condition and worriers in Study 1.
(17) Jenny Jones, a Green party member of the London Assembly who has campaigned to make cycling safer, said she had spoken to the deputy head of the Met's traffic unit to express her worries about the operation.
(18) What was very worrying was at half‑time when you go in the dressing room, I could sense there was no response.
(19) She said she was not worried by Rubio’s one-time position on his immigration bill, later retracted, that he could not support reform if it included citizenship for gay couples.
(20) It sells itself to British tourists as a holiday heaven of golden beaches, flamenco dresses and well-stocked sherry bars, but southern Andalucía – home to the Costa del Sol – has now become the focus of worries about the euro.