preoccupied
adjective, verb
preoccupied is spelled P-R-E-O-C-C-U-P-I-E-D: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, preoccupied means “Concerned with something else; distracted; giving one's attention elsewhere” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in preoccupied?
| Letters | 11: P-R-E-O-C-C-U-P-I-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.8 times per million words; the 20,629th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is preoccupied?
Preoccupied appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce preoccupied?
- US
Preoccupied has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-preoccupied.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of preoccupied
- more preoccupied comparative
- most preoccupied superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does preoccupied mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Concerned with something else; distracted; giving one's attention elsewhere.
I was preoccupied with a deadline at work, and I forgot his birthday.
- 2
archaicAlready occupied.
- 3
obsoletePrepossessed; biased.
- 4
Describing a taxonomic name not available for use because it is already used for another.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of preoccupy
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Preoccupied in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense concerned with something else, distracted:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | préoccupé |
| German | gedankenverloren, in Gedanken woanders, tief beschäftigt |
| Portuguese | preocupado |
| Spanish | ensimismado, obsesionado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.