possessively
Americanadverb
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in a possessive manner; in a way that is controlling or overly jealous.
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Grammar. in the possessive form.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Most of the year, the valley feels like a refuge from another century that farmers possessively protect.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 16, 2023
When it works, though, it’s an idiosyncratic tribute to friendship at its most possessively intense.
From New York Times • Feb. 7, 2019
More dramatically, DH Lawrence tells us that Mrs Morel, the possessively loving mother of Sons and Lovers, had dreaded her baby “like a catastrophe” before he arrived.
From The Guardian • Feb. 24, 2018
These, along with the possessively prefixed names of Ofglen, Ofwarren, Ofcharles, and the rest, stumble the reader like rocks unexpectedly cast onto a well-worn path.
From The New Yorker • May 28, 2017
One, short, stubby, and beaming, held Anita’s arm possessively.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
