preoccupation
noun /priˌɒkjuˈpeɪʃn/
/priˌɑːkjuˈpeɪʃn/
- [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
- …
- preoccupation for
- preoccupation with
- [uncountable] a mood created by thinking or worrying about something and ignoring everything else
- She spoke slowly, in a state of preoccupation.
Word Originlate 16th cent. (first used in rhetoric in the sense ‘anticipating and meeting objections beforehand’): from Latin praeoccupatio(n-), from praeoccupare ‘seize beforehand’.