fixated

American  

[fik-sey-tid] / ˈfɪk seɪ tɪd /

adjective

1. Psychoanalysis. arrested in emotional or sexual development.

   To me, he still seems stuck at the stage of an orally fixated toddler.

2. fastened or held in one place.

   An unstable dislocation, often due to loose ligaments, is more problematic than the fixated type of joint dislocation.

3. aimed or directed in one place.

   He looked up at me with the fixated stare of a strangled fish.

4. focused on by the eyes.

   Given a constant distance between the two eyes, the location of the fixated point, where the lines of sight of the two eyes meet, can be computed.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of fixate.

Other Word Forms

• unfixated adjective

Etymology

Origin of fixated

fixate + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

The streets of the Catalina Foothills are lined with Arizona's iconic, giant three-armed Saguaro cacti – and throngs of journalists, investigators and neighbours fixated on the disappearance of the mother of TV presenter Savannah Guthrie.

From BBC

I’d become fixated on the clock, the notion of time, and the reality of just how short a minute really is.

From The Wall Street Journal

When Don Toliver set out to make his new album “Octane,” the rapper was first fixated on Los Angeles’ San Gabriel Mountains.

From Los Angeles Times

Coal was fixated on all the ways their plan could go wrong.

From Literature

I’d noticed the impact of technology on my attention but I’d always thought of myself as overly focused, fixated on things even.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• captivated
• dominated
• haunted
• preoccupied
• troubled