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occupy

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To take or use.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ahkyuhpy

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɑkjəpaɪ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitiveof time

    To take or use.

  2. transitive

    To take or use space.

  3. To fill or hold (an official position or role).

  4. Consume all of one's attention or time

  5. To hold the attention of.

  6. Live (in a certain place)

noun

  1. Synonym of OWS (""Occupy Wall Street" protest movement").

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (transitive, of time) To take or use.

Used this way, occupy is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

now occupy

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • absorb

    To include so that it no longer has separate existence.

  • take

    To lead (to a place).

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • occupiedadjectiveInflected form

    Held or filled or in use.

  • occupiernounInflected form

    Someone who lives at a particular place for a prolonged period or who was born there.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • occupationnounDerived noun

    The principal activity in your life that you do to earn money.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

verb

Sense: to take or use

absorbtakeuse upbusyconcernworryinvade

noun

Sense: synonym of OWS (""Occupy Wall Street" protest movement")

fill

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.