The father tried to preoccupy the child with his keys.
Source: wiktionary
Preoccupy
//pɹɪˈɒkjupaɪ//
Synonyms for "preoccupy" (74 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (15)
Strong matches (22)
Related words (37)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
Translations
5 translations across 3 languages.
Bulgarian
1 entries- разсейвам verb (distract)
Finnish
3 entries- askarruttaa verb (distract)
- kiinnittää jonkun huomio johonkin verb (distract)
- siirtää jonkun huomio johonkin verb (distract)
Greek
1 entries- απασχολώ verb (distract)
Sample sentences
4 total sentences available.
Dr. Beeching's obvious intent is that if Scottish—and similarly unprofitable English and Welsh—railways are to be maintained, it must be done by an unconcealed subsidy; he is determined that the railways shall no longer be preoccupied with—and derided for—immense deficits which include the burden of social services the State must openly underwrite, if it wants them.
Source: wiktionary
It always preoccupies me when he acts like this.
Source: wiktionary
Terrified at this uproar, […] she ran for shelter into the place which was pre-occupied by the other lady […].
Source: wiktionary
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.