Synonyms for preoccupied
- adjective
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Absent-minded
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Concerned with something else; distracted; giving one's attention elsewhere.
I was preoccupied with a deadline at work, and I forgot his birthday.
- adj. 2
Describing a taxonomic name not available for use because it is already used for another.
Choose the right word
As regards mental action, absorbed, abstracted, and preoccupied refer to the cause, absent or absent-minded to the effect. A preoccupied person may seem listless and thoughtless, but the really listless and thoughtless have not mental energy to be preoccupied.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- absent If he is absent, we will not have an English test.
- occupied The miner and his bride occupied two granite beds.
By length
- 4 letters
- lost1
- 6 letters
- absent2, musing2
- 7 letters
- haunted2, bemused2
- 8 letters
- occupied3, obsessed2
- 10 letters
- thoughtful2, abstracted3
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (absent2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- préoccupé