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obsession

[ uhb-sesh-uhn ]
/ əbˈsɛʃ ən /
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See synonyms for: obsession / obsessions on Thesaurus.com
noun
the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.
the idea, image, desire, feeling, etc., itself.
the state of being obsessed.
the act of obsessing.
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Origin of obsession

1505–15; <Latin obsessiōn- (stem of obsessiō) blockade, siege, equivalent to obsess(us) (see obsess) + -iōn--ion

OTHER WORDS FROM obsession

ob·ses·sion·al, adjectivenon·ob·ses·sion, nounnon·ob·ses·sion·al, adjectiveself-ob·ses·sion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to obsession

compulsion, delusion, enthusiasm, fascination, infatuation, mania, passion, phobia, preoccupation, attraction, case, complex, craze, crush, fancy, fetish, hang-up, monkey on one's back, must, neurosis

How to use obsession in a sentence

  • Some personality styles seem more prone to instant tearing than others; the hysterical can be contrasted with the obsessional.

    Why Do We Cry?|Michael Trimble|January 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST

  • With his glance upon the psaltery stick, a dim notion of accounting filtered curiously into his mind and became obsessional.

    Kenny|Leona Dalrymple

  • It is often found in cases of insanity of the obsessional or of some other type.

    Tics and Their Treatment|Henry Meigne

  • Others have been rendered single-seeing through obsessional use of the monocular lens, given over to proof of the presupposition.

    Criminal Types|V. M. Masten

British Dictionary definitions for obsession

obsession
/ (əbˈsɛʃən) /
noun
psychiatry a persistent idea or impulse that continually forces its way into consciousness, often associated with anxiety and mental illness
a persistent preoccupation, idea, or feeling
the act of obsessing or the state of being obsessed

Derived forms of obsession

obsessional, adjectiveobsessionally, adverb
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

Cultural definitions for obsession

obsession

A preoccupation with a feeling or idea. In psychology, an obsession is similar to a compulsion.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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