preoccupation

«preoccupation» in Mova's school dictionary: A state of thinking about one thing so much that you… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (a preoccupation, preoccupations; preoccupation uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) A state of thinking about one thing so much that you hardly notice other things: «In his preoccupation, he missed the bus.» tree →

2) Something that fills your mind all the time, a worry or strong interest: «Football is his main preoccupation.» tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories it shows a character lost in thought or worried; in everyday life it names what someone cares about most. Phrases: «a preoccupation with», «main preoccupation», «lost in preoccupation».

examples

• Her preoccupation with the test made her forget her lunch. tree →
• Winning the cup was the team's only preoccupation. tree →
• Dad's main preoccupation is paying the bills. tree →
• His preoccupation with his phone annoyed his gran. tree →
• The writer's great preoccupation was the sea. tree →
• In her preoccupation she walked straight past her friend. tree →

note

Countable when it means a thing that fills your mind (preoccupations); uncountable when it means the state. Use «with»: a preoccupation with money. Adjective: preoccupied; verb: preoccupy. Not about «occupation» (a job), though it shares the root.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «preoccupation» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.