different between preoccupied vs abstracted

English

Pronunciation

Adjective

preoccupied (comparative more preoccupied, superlative most preoccupied)

1. Concerned with something else; distracted; giving one's attention elsewhere.

   I was preoccupied with a deadline at work, and I forgot his birthday.

2. (taxonomy, not comparable) Describing a scientific name that was previously used, a junior homonym.

Translations

Verb

preoccupied

1. simple past tense and past participle of preoccupy

English

Etymology

abstract +? -ed

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b.?st?æk.t?d/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?b.?st?æk.t?d/, /æb.?st?æk.t?d/

Adjective

abstracted (comparative more abstracted, superlative most abstracted)

1. Separated or disconnected; withdrawn; removed; apart. [First attested in the mid 16^th century.]
2. (now rare) Separated from matter; abstract; ideal, not concrete. [First attested in the early 17^th century.]
3. (now rare) Abstract; abstruse; difficult. [First attested in the early 17^th century.]
4. Inattentive to surrounding objects; absent in mind; meditative. [First attested in the early 17^th century.]
   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 57:

     I'm afraid neither of us was looking where we were going. We Adrians are notoriously abstracted, are we not?

Derived terms

• abstractedly
• abstractedness

Translations

Verb

abstracted

1. simple past tense and past participle of abstract

References