possessed by

Idioms  

1. Driven by, obsessed with, as in He was possessed by the idea of becoming a millionaire. This idiom employs possess in the sense of “dominate one's thoughts or ideas,” a usage dating from the late 1500s.

---

Example Sentences

When Ben Rosenfeld started working as a residential assistant at a Stanford University dorm, he encountered 77 freshmen possessed by an “all-consuming” force.

From The Wall Street Journal

Delia is possessed by a ghoul who makes her sing the Caribbean number in the voice of Belafonte while she gyrates with her mortified dinner guests.

From Los Angeles Times

“Whatever happened to her isn’t something the police can handle. She vanished into thin air while possessed by someone who might have been my ex-girlfriend.”

From Literature

The crowd was screaming his name while dancing, wholly possessed by the deeply ancestral, bewitchingly robotic beat of the drum machine coming from Uncle Jamm’s Army’s regular set-up — a temple of sound worship made up of 100 Cerwin Vega speakers.

From Los Angeles Times

In Season 2, he is possessed by the Mind Flayer and feels pain when the vines in the Upside Down are damaged or Demogorgons are hurt.

From Los Angeles Times