adjective
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psychiatry motivated by a persistent overriding idea or impulse, often associated with anxiety and mental illness
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continually preoccupied with a particular activity, person, or thing
noun
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psychiatry a person subject to obsession
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a person who is continually preoccupied with a particular activity, person, or thing
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of obsessive
First recorded in 1910–15; obsess(ion) + -ive
Explanation
If you rush to the carwash every time a speck of dust lands on your fender, your friends probably describe you as obsessive about keeping your car clean. In other words, you care way too much about your car's cleanliness. Whenever someone is wild about something to an alarming or unnatural extent, you can say they're obsessive. If you go berserk when your neighbor’s soccer ball lands in your flowerbed, your neighbors might think you’re obsessive about your garden. If there’s a person you think about every moment, night and day, you may be obsessive, or maybe you’re just in love.
Vocabulary lists containing obsessive
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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.
Alejandro is this crazy genius and being around that level of — Tom Cruise as well — they’re all obsessive perfectionists that have just like endless rocket fuel in them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
"Almost immediately it was just us, in a vacuum, talking about the project… I like to think I made up for any lack of experience by being completely obsessive."
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
After being a Tab obsessive for years before its discontinuation, Ward now carefully rations Coke Zero to avoid drinking three a day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Since going viral, Parsons’ videos have come under scrutiny by obsessive fans — and detractors, too, who suggest he’s trying to have singular ownership over the concept.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
My life revolves around an obsessive regimen and percentages, and given that I was just in surgery, the risk never seems to go down.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
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.
