compulsive

[kuh m-puhl-siv]

adjective

compelling; compulsory.
Psychology.
1. pertaining to, characterized by, or involving compulsion: a compulsive desire to cry.
2. 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.

Origin of compulsive

1595–1605; obsolete compulse v. (< Latin compuls(us), past participle of compellere; see compulsion) + -ive

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

[kuh m-puhl-siv-i-tee, kom-puhl-] /kəm pʌlˈsɪv ɪ ti, ˌkɒm pʌl-/, nounnon·com·pul·sive, adjectivenon·com·pul·sive·ly, adverbqua·si-com·pul·sive, adjectivequa·si-com·pul·sive·ly, adverbun·com·pul·sive, adjectiveun·com·pul·sive·ly, adverb

Can be confusedcompulsive impulsive impetuous (see synonym study at impetuous)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for compulsively

Contemporary Examples of compulsively

Prisoners there became severely depressed: some began to compulsively mutilate themselves; others attempted suicide.
The One Photo a Prisoner Wants to See
Isabel Wilkinson
May 6, 2013
Have you been compulsively checking to see if white smoke has billowed from the Sistine Chapel yet?
Your Guide to Pope-Picking: Conclave Songs, Livefeeds, Betting & More
Nina Strochlic
March 12, 2013
Put aside Santorum, who compulsively froths, and Romney who (to reverse a Hebrew saying) is always a weathervane, never a compass.
Please Shut Up
Gershom Gorenberg
March 12, 2012
I came across this book in high school, and read it compulsively.
Annette Gordon-Reed’s Book Picks
Annette Gordon-Reed
June 16, 2009
The compulsively aggressive Australian is a great businessman, writes press baron and Rupert frenemy Conrad Black.
Murdoch's Italian Offensive
Conrad Black
June 10, 2009

Historical Examples of compulsively

She is spotless, obsessively purgatory, and compulsively tidy.
After the Rain
Sam Vaknin
I compulsively tell friends and strangers about things that I like.
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Cory Doctorow
Neither State nor National Government is dependent one upon the other, he said; neither can act "compulsively" upon the other.
The Life of John Marshall Volume 4 of 4
Albert J. Beveridge
Other women might compulsively finish concealing themselves before snatching up the gun.
The Old Die Rich
Horace Leonard Gold

British Dictionary definitions for compulsively

compulsive

adjective

relating to or involving compulsion

noun

psychiatry an individual who is subject to a psychological compulsion

Derived Formscompulsively, 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

Word Origin and History for compulsively

compulsive

adj.

c.1600, from French compulsif, from Latin compulsus, past participle of compellere (see compel). Psychological sense is from 1902. As a noun, attested from 1630s; psychological sense from 1957. Related: Compulsively; compulsiveness.

compulsively in Medicine

compulsive

[kəm-pŭl′sĭv]

adj.

Caused or conditioned by compulsion or obsession.

A person with behavior patterns governed by a compulsion.