How to Use preoccupation in a Sentence

preoccupation

noun
Definition of preoccupationnext
Synonyms for preoccupationnext
  • We need to better understand the problems and preoccupations of our clients.
  • Still, even with its preoccupation with death, The Room Next Door is not a dour film.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 7 Sep. 2024
  • And while the food (a goat cheese salad, red snapper) and decor were lovely objects of preoccupation, the art was the highlight of the night.
    — Elise Taylor, Vogue, 16 Nov. 2018
  • Throughout your life, how much has career and the pursuit of a good life been a preoccupation for you?
    — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, 26 June 2019
  • Just look for all the insect references — stink bugs at the beginning to flies at the end, and a preoccupation with odor across the frames.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Oct. 2019
  • Just look for all the insect references – stink bugs at the beginning to flies at the end, and a preoccupation with odor across the frames.
    — Mark Kennedy, Detroit Free Press, 31 Oct. 2019
  • But it could be argued that the preoccupation with food began in the 17th century, when the Dutch were at the center of the global spice trade.
    — Laura Reiley, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2022
  • The integrity of elections has been a preoccupation on the right for years.
    — Robert O'Harrow Jr., Washington Post, 25 Oct. 2021
  • This seems to fairly reflect the range of Lipsky’s preoccupations, as well as the span of his writing.
    — Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2023
  • Instead of replacing the guy at the center of the action, the guy is her preoccupation.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 22 Aug. 2021
  • The preoccupation with Russian meddling is a call to rally around the flag.
    — Adam Tooze, The New York Review of Books, 6 June 2019
  • Fat Mike has brought this preoccupation with him to the Punk Rock Museum.
    — Brett Martin, New York Times, 28 Nov. 2023
  • Songwriting wasn’t our preoccupation when the Edge and I were younger.
    — Rob Tannenbaum, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2023
  • Our preoccupation with growing our wealth and status has left us in a world that is high on carbon but low on care.
    — Gina Lodge, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2021
  • The book seems to be organized more around her own preoccupations than around those of its subject.
    — Carson Holloway, National Review, 20 June 2019
  • The dams were a preoccupation for Ashoor, who had warned of their fragility as early as 2008 in his master’s thesis.
    — Sarah Dadouch, Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2023
  • Given the preoccupation with safety that has plagued the country since at ...
    — Amity Shlaes, National Review, 10 Nov. 2023
  • The cultural preoccupation with zombies shambles on in The Last of Us and other movies and video games.
    — Neda Ulaby, NPR, 1 Apr. 2024
  • In those days, the focus was the usual tech wonderment preoccupation about whether or not AI could be devised to drive a car.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 21 Apr. 2022
  • For Kessler, a multilingual German/Finn, the idea of home has been a preoccupation since school days.
    — Vogue, 12 May 2022
  • The central zone of the apartment is occupied with each of the couple's preoccupations.
    — Kimberley Mok, Treehugger, 6 June 2023
  • But his main preoccupation was his grown children, who had left the area — one to study in Dresden, one to work in Kassel, in the former West Germany.
    — Alec MacGillis, ProPublica, 31 Jan. 2022
  • Even as a longtime reader of War and Peace, I’ve been surprised by this preoccupation.
    — Yiyun Li, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024
  • Goode’s greatest preoccupation, the one that all the others seem to revolve around, is reptiles.
    — Lane Brown, Vulture, 26 Aug. 2024
  • Holes is open about his preoccupation with his work, frequently to the detriment of his private life.
    — Washington Post, 27 Apr. 2022
  • Trump’s preoccupation with Joe Biden and his son Hunter flourished there.
    — Lynn Berry, The Denver Post, 4 Nov. 2019
  • But Hsu makes clear that these people, and the details of the violence to which Ken was subjected, are not his preoccupation.
    — Claire Messud, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022
  • Many believe that the city’s preoccupation with the pandemic has eclipsed concern over the drug deaths and blunted the urgency of the moment.
    — New York Times, 23 Apr. 2021
  • The preoccupation yanked her away from family and impeded her work.
    — Molly Young, New York Times, 30 Dec. 2024
  • What exactly that something turned out to be is the central preoccupation of Hysteria!, a fun, insightful, and occasionally scary coming-of-age horror series.
    — Judy Berman, TIME, 30 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'preoccupation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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