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Definition of preoccupation noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

preoccupation

noun
 
/priˌɒkjuˈpeɪʃn/
 
/priˌɑːkjuˈpeɪʃn/
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  1. [uncountable, countable] preoccupation (with something) a state of thinking about something continuously; something that you think about frequently or for a long time synonym obsession
    • She found his preoccupation with money irritating.
    • His current preoccupation is the appointment of the new manager.
    Extra Examples
    • Their chief preoccupation was how to feed their families.
    • his lifelong preoccupation with Chinese art forms
    • our society's unhealthy preoccupation with women's bodies
    • His later work reflects a growing preoccupation with death.
    • She is very attuned to the current preoccupations of senior management.
    • The contract threatened to become a major preoccupation for Laura.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • current
    • present
    • recent
    preposition
    • preoccupation for
    • preoccupation with
    See full entry
  2. [uncountable] a mood created by thinking or worrying about something and ignoring everything else
    • She spoke slowly, in a state of preoccupation.
  3. Word Originlate 16th cent. (first used in rhetoric in the sense ‘anticipating and meeting objections beforehand’): from Latin praeoccupatio(n-), from praeoccupare ‘seize beforehand’.
See preoccupation in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee preoccupation in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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