to occupy oneself
3
4.1
- phrasal verb
- /ˈɑːkjʊpaɪ wʌnˈsɛlf/
:
ocupar(se)
- I occupied myself by watching the final days of the colony as the ship decoded the last of the damaged data stack.
Examples
-
I guess when you're in the minority like Gleason is, the only choice you have is to occupy yourself with legislation like this.
Blog text (17) -
Now that my brother has gone, I must find something with which to occupy myself.
-
How do you occupy yourself away from camera?
-
Well, occupy yourself with friends or family.
-
I tried to stay home with you as long as I could, but eventually, I had to get out in the world and occupy myself.
Fiction book (2002) -
She must have something to occupy herself while we map the deposits.
-
I work full time while I'm traveling, so you'll need to find ways to occupy yourself during those times.
Blog text (21) -
And what do you find to occupy yourself with in Lyme, Captain Benwick?
-
While there had been a lot that bothered me in psychiatry along the way during my time in grade, I stayed out of the business of the specialty itself, occupying myself with my own work with patients and the literature that pertained.
Blog text (2) -
Whenever she wasn't home, I occupied myself with singing and painting.
Synonyms
117
3.5
To keep someone's full attention
41
4.2
To work hard and focus on a task
17
5.8
To hold someone's full attention
10
1.0
To keep yourself active by doing something
Antonyms
How Busy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to engage in or keep oneself busy with an activity' is directly and compositionally derived from 'occupy' (to keep someone's mind or time occupied) plus the reflexive 'oneself' indicating the subject performs the action on themselves. This reflexive construction is a common, cross-linguistic pattern and should be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
Occupy oneself comes from the idea of occupy meaning 'to fill or take up', like filling a room with boxes, and oneself meaning 'your own time or attention'. So, to occupy oneself is to fill your time with activities, which is why it means 'to keep busy'.