compulsive

[ kuhm-puhl-siv ]

/ kəmˈpʌl sɪv /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for compulsive on Thesaurus.com

adjective

compelling; compulsory.

Psychology.

pertaining to, characterized by, or involving compulsion: a compulsive desire to cry.
governed by an obsessive need to conform, be scrupulous, etc., coupled with an inability to express positive emotions.

noun

Psychology. a person whose behavior is governed by a compulsion.

QUIZ

CUDDLE UP! A COZY QUIZ ON FALL WORDS HAS ARRIVED

If autumn is your ideal season, spice up your repertoire of "fall" vocabulary with this quiz on some warm and vivid descriptive words for the season.

Question 1 of 10

Which of the following words means “to make a crackling sound; crackle”?

crisp

crepitate

fuscous

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of compulsive

First recorded in 1595–1605; obsolete compulse, verb (from Latin compuls(us), past participle of compellere; see compulsion) + -ive

OTHER WORDS FROM compulsive

com·pul·sive·ly, adverbcom·pul·sive·ness, com·pul·siv·i·ty

[kuhm-puhl-siv-i-tee, kom-puhl-], /kəm pʌlˈsɪv ɪ ti, ˌkɒm pʌl-/, nounnon·com·pul·sive, adjectivenon·com·pul·sive·ly, adverb

qua·si-com·pul·sive, adjectivequa·si-com·pul·sive·ly, adverbun·com·pul·sive, adjectiveun·com·pul·sive·ly, adverb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH compulsive

compulsive , impulsive

Words nearby compulsive

Compton effect, comptroller, Comptroller General of the United States, Comptroller of the Currency, compulsion, compulsive, compulsive personality, compulsory, compulsory purchase, compunction, compunctious

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use compulsive in a sentence

The Martin House’s 12 ft by 15 ft bursar’s office, as it was called, was designed to accommodate the owner’s compulsive work habits.
How Frank Lloyd Wright designed a distraction-free home office|Anne Quito|October 24, 2020|Quartz
Determined, stubborn, and tireless, she was motivated by what she described as an “almost compulsive desire to be busy and useful.”
“I burned with indignation”|Katie McLean|October 20, 2020|MIT Technology Review
There were all these people with Parkinson’s disease who started becoming compulsive gamblers.
Your Brain Makes You a Different Person Every Day - Issue 91: The Amazing Brain|Steve Paulson|October 14, 2020|Nautilus
This medication raised their levels of dopamine, which helped with the motor problems, but it also turned them into compulsive gamblers.
Your Brain Makes You a Different Person Every Day - Issue 91: The Amazing Brain|Steve Paulson|October 14, 2020|Nautilus

Other research and reporting suggest the pandemic has exacerbated symptoms for people with disordered eating, substance use disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and other diagnoses.
What mental health professionals have learned six months into pandemic care|Marion Renault|October 8, 2020|Popular-Science
But it looks like it was created by crazed person with obsessive-compulsive behavior.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans|Philip K. Howard|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His detail seeking in our meetings is compulsive and a little nuts.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sex and passion; compulsive, life-changing, soul-altering sex, all to be made more explicit than he had done in the past.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Compulsive writing, or hypergraphia, is a well-known, if uncommon, symptom of temporal lobe epilepsy.
The Seizure Medication That Turns You Into a Poet|Cat Ferguson|September 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Obsessive-compulsive tendencies really help to enhance abilities,” Okun said.
Why Tourette’s May Be Tim Howard’s Secret Weapon on the Field|Michael Daly|July 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Nowhere in the world, I am sure, does the "to be continued in our next" interest take hold on one with such a compulsive grip.
America To-day, Observations and Reflections|William Archer
In the hopes of averting so abhorrent, but compulsive an alternative.
Social England under the Regency, Vol. 1 (of 2)|John Ashton.
He still takes us by the throat, but his grip is not compulsive.
The Life of Francis Thompson|Everard Meynell
Political and legal differences can be settled either by amicable or by compulsive means.
International Law. A Treatise. Volume II (of 2)|Lassa Francis Oppenheim
War is very often enumerated among the compulsive means of settling international differences.
International Law. A Treatise. Volume II (of 2)|Lassa Francis Oppenheim

British Dictionary definitions for compulsive

compulsive

/ (kəmˈpʌlsɪv) /

adjective

relating to or involving compulsion

noun

psychiatry an individual who is subject to a psychological compulsion

Derived forms of compulsive

compulsively, adverbcompulsiveness, 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

Medical definitions for compulsive

compulsive

[ kəm-pŭl′sĭv ]

adj.

Caused or conditioned by compulsion or obsession.

A person with behavior patterns governed by a compulsion.

compulsive

Origin of compulsive

OTHER WORDS FROM compulsive

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH compulsive

Words nearby compulsive

Words related to compulsive

How to use compulsive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for compulsive

Derived forms of compulsive

Medical definitions for compulsive