fixate

American  

[fik-seyt] / ˈfɪk seɪt /

verb (used without object)

fixated, fixating

1. to obsessively concentrate one's attention (usually followed byon ).

   Take something away from someone completely and they may fixate on it.

2. Psychoanalysis. to develop a fixation; suffer an arrest in one's emotional or sexual development.

   The patient fixates in an incestuous libido cycle, seeking to reconnect with an earlier aspect of her history.

3. to stabilize or become fixed.

4. to focus the eyes on an object or point.

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verb (used with object)

fixated, fixating

1. to obsessively concentrate one's attention on.

2. Psychoanalysis. to cause (one's psychosexual development) to be arrested at an early point in life.

3. to make stable or stationary; fix.

   Using cement to fixate the cap on the head of the femur, while initially adding stability, has a chance of loosening in subsequent years.

4. 1. to focus (the eyes) on an object or point.

      The eye muscles ordinarily fixate the two eyes on a single target.

   2. to focus the eyes on (an object).

fixate British  

/ ˈfɪkseɪt /

verb

1. to become or cause to become fixed

2. to direct the eye or eyes at a point in space so that the image of the point falls on the centre (fovea) of the eye or eyes

3. psychol to engage in fixation

4. informal (tr; usually passive) to obsess or preoccupy

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Etymology

Origin of fixate

First recorded in 1880–85; from Latin fix(us) “fixed, firm” ( see fix) + -ate ¹

Explanation

If you fixate on something, you become overly focused on it or attached to it. Don't fixate on your grades — try to enjoy the process of learning! While the original 19th century meaning of fixate was "make stable," it soon came to mean "gaze upon." It was Sigmund Freud who shifted the definition to something more obsessive. His theories of psychoanalysis included the concept of fixation, an unhealthy attachment to something or someone — and fixate followed. You can fixate on small things (like a stain on your sweater) or big things (like world poverty).

Example Sentences

While some investors fixate on Nvidia chips or large language models such as Alphabet’s Gemini, Chintalapalli is focused on utilities, backup-power providers, and real estate—the physical infrastructure needed to support the AI boom.

From Barron's • Feb. 2, 2026

But Ms. McCracken does not fixate on the aesthetic of a sentence or the mechanics of plot.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

Halpern's earlier research identified a distinct pattern of electrical activity in the NAc that appears right before a person begins to fixate on food and feels the urge to binge.

From Science Daily • Dec. 8, 2025

I jump back and fixate my phone’s camera on the creature, but that only encourages them to step closer.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 5, 2025

First, the letter shouldn’t have been on the bottom of the screen because, as almost all eye movement research demonstrates, when it comes to television people tend to fixate on the center of the screen.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• haunt
• infatuate
• obsess