obsessive

[ uhb-ses-iv ]
See synonyms for: obsessiveobsessiveness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. being, pertaining to, or resembling an obsession: an obsessive fear of illness.

  2. causing an obsession.

  1. excessive, especially extremely so.

noun
  1. someone who has an obsession or obsessions; a person who thinks or behaves in an obsessive manner.

Origin of obsessive

1
First recorded in 1910–15; obsess(ion) + -ive

Other words from obsessive

  • ob·ses·sive·ly, adverb
  • ob·ses·sive·ness, noun
  • non·ob·ses·sive, adjective
  • non·ob·ses·sive·ly, adverb
  • non·ob·ses·sive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use obsessive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for obsessive

obsessive

/ (əbˈsɛsɪv) /


adjective
  1. psychiatry motivated by a persistent overriding idea or impulse, often associated with anxiety and mental illness

  2. continually preoccupied with a particular activity, person, or thing

noun
  1. psychiatry a person subject to obsession

  2. a person who is continually preoccupied with a particular activity, person, or thing

Derived forms of obsessive

  • obsessively, adverb
  • obsessiveness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012