preoccupy
/pɹiˈɑkjupaɪ/verb
preoccupy is spelled P-R-E-O-C-C-U-P-Y: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 115,751st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, preoccupy means “To distract; to draw attention elsewhere” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in preoccupy?
| Letters | 9: P-R-E-O-C-C-U-P-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 15 million words; the 115,751st 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 preoccupy?
Preoccupy appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 115,751st 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 preoccupy?
- UK /pɹɪˈɒkjupaɪ/
- US /pɹiˈɑkjupaɪ/
Preoccupy 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-preoccupy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of preoccupy
- preoccupies present, singular, he/she/it
- preoccupying participle, present
- preoccupied participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does preoccupy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To distract; to draw attention elsewhere.
The father tried to preoccupy the child with his keys.
- 2
To worry or concern (someone) so as to distract them.
It always preoccupies me when he acts like this.
- 3
obsoleteTo occupy or take possession of beforehand.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does preoccupy come from?
From pre- + occupy, after Middle French preoccuper, and its source, Latin praeoccupo, praeoccupare. Doublet of preoccupate, now obsolete.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).