How to Use preoccupation in a Sentence

preoccupation

noun
  • We need to better understand the problems and preoccupations of our clients.
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Holes is open about his preoccupation with his work, frequently to the detriment of his private life.
    Washington Post, 27 Apr. 2022
  • 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
  • Making art that considers the end of the world is an ancient preoccupation.
    Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2022
  • The preoccupation of the characters with print media indicates the distance from the present.
    Charles McNultytheater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2022
  • For some of the students, the preoccupation of the day was a more typical concern: upcoming midterm exams.
    Courtland Milloy, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023
  • Diachenko said that since coming to Georgia, his main preoccupation has been learning to play the piano.
    Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 22 Dec. 2022
  • The wine, the laughter, and the desire to stay in the moment—if only not to cut off a finger—was a welcome distraction from my usual state of mental preoccupation.
    Leila Milgrim, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 July 2023
  • The reviews were mixed when they were unveiled in the 1920s, with some critics dismissive of Monet’s preoccupation with color and light.
    Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2023
  • The Moon is in your lucky 5th house, so your main preoccupation is likely enjoying yourself.
    Tarot Astrologers, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2023
  • The Suns' preoccupation with the officials was a distraction, and there were already enough of those on the road against a desperate opponent.
    Kent Somers, The Arizona Republic, 7 May 2022
  • Making agents that are safe as well as smart is a major preoccupation of projects and companies working on this next phase of the ChatGPT era.
    WIRED, 21 Sep. 2023
  • Schrader added that making art that can stand the test of time has increasingly become a preoccupation of his.
    Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2022
  • Throughout the novel, Lovering pulls no punches in describing the extent to which Lucy’s preoccupation with food shapes her life.
    Keely Weiss, ELLE, 7 Sep. 2022
  • In this short documentary, the filmmaker shows how his preoccupation comes with a cost.
    Detroit Free Press Staff, Detroit Free Press, 6 May 2023
  • This preoccupation is all about warding off shame, which blocks concern for others.
    Orna Guralnik, New York Times, 16 May 2023
  • For her shy son, who dreamed of being a mechanical engineer, life’s biggest preoccupation wasn’t the cruel taunts of classmates or even the gangs who peddled drugs in the streets.
    Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2022
  • In other words, like all new technologies, this news demands a higher preoccupation with the digital safety of the users.
    Lincoln Ando, Forbes, 7 June 2022
  • Mendes noted that the preoccupation with picking her appearance apart even interfered with her work as a whole.
    Wendy Geller, Peoplemag, 27 Jan. 2023
  • And although we may be biased due to our preoccupation with all things The Row, the Ginza sandal was undoubtedly the commencement of the flip-flop resurgence and has since been carried on by many.
    Cortne Bonilla, Vogue, 7 Aug. 2023
  • There’s talk of fascism and rebellion and the haves screwing over the have-nots, an ongoing franchise preoccupation that only seems more urgent right now.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 16 Nov. 2023

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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