as in to interest
to hold the attention of
a puzzle will occupy that child for hours
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of occupy
Besides the café, which occupies about a quarter of the space, the shop is distinguished by its 50 feet of frontage and big, wide windows.
—
David Moin, Footwear News, 3 June 2025
Achieving that in this kind of play, though, requires more of a surrogate parental relationship between these two characters and that needs two actors who more clearly occupy the same world and find a mutual way to drive on through its thickets.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 3 June 2025
The list only includes 50 spaces, which means Wallen occupies almost 75% of the entire roster.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
The Industrialist Facing the Barclays Center, The Industrialist occupies a four-story warehouse reimagined as an artist's sanctuary.
—Malik Peay, USA Today, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for occupy
David Moin, Footwear News, 3 June 2025
Achieving that in this kind of play, though, requires more of a surrogate parental relationship between these two characters and that needs two actors who more clearly occupy the same world and find a mutual way to drive on through its thickets.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 3 June 2025
The list only includes 50 spaces, which means Wallen occupies almost 75% of the entire roster.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
The Industrialist Facing the Barclays Center, The Industrialist occupies a four-story warehouse reimagined as an artist's sanctuary.
—Malik Peay, USA Today, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for occupy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for occupy
Verb
-
O’Hara simplifies vocabulary, reassigns lines and excises parts that don’t interest him, but otherwise sticks to Shakespeare’s template.—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
6 June 2025
-
Los Angeles doesn't have many draft picks to trade, and the team doesn't have many young players who may interest the Suns.—
Matt Levine,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 June 2025
Verb
-
Their pairing is awkward and tentative and involves a learning curve for both.—
Nina Metz,
Chicago Tribune,
12 June 2025
-
Wednesday’s protest followed a larger anti-ICE demonstration on Tuesday involving about 2,500 people who were protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across the country in Lower Manhattan.—
Michael Dorgan , Bryan Llenas,
FOXNews.com,
12 June 2025
Verb
-
What intrigued him most was the contradiction at the heart of his character.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
4 June 2025
-
Even though the offer was undefined, Adams was intrigued.—
Matthew Fairburn,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
Verb
-
One day, though, Bella plans to fully immerse him in the world of pro wrestling — especially women’s wrestling.—
Sean Neumann,
People.com,
12 June 2025
-
The godmother of folk has emerged from the diamonds and rust to bear some advice: The antidote to watching and reading too much news is immersing yourselves in the fictional Pacific Northwest.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
11 June 2025
Verb
-
Liz busied herself in another room while Miller and the Warrens worked with Cooper.—
Tom Roland,
Billboard,
23 May 2025
-
Aha! This spring, as Musk has busied himself dismantling parts of the United States government, signs of discontent with the world’s richest man have stealthily appeared across London’s public-transport network.—
Anna Russell,
New Yorker,
24 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Reddit users were fascinated by the strange-but-smart hospitality hack, with one even inspired to turn it into a trivia question.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 June 2025
-
There is something magical about a firefly that fascinates young and old alike.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
11 June 2025
Verb
-
Your profile could attract 200 views weekly, but if only 12 are potential clients, your strategy needs work.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
16 June 2025
-
But then, too, there was the imaginative rigor of the posthumous realms Dante conjured from those lines, which had, over the centuries, attracted mathematical minds possessed of vastly more sophistication than my own.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 June 2025
Verb
-
No such icy plunge seems to have hit the developers at Extell, who engaged the architects at ODA to build a 52-story skyscraper called the Torch on Eighth Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets.—
Christopher Bonanos,
Curbed,
6 June 2025
-
In August 2024, Griffith announced in a post on Instagram that Stella got engaged to entrepreneur Alex Gruszynski.—
Kayla Grant,
People.com,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Occupy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/occupy. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share