Dictionary.com

obsession

[ uhb-sesh-uhn ]
/ əbˈsɛʃ ən /
Save This Word!
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.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?

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

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.

  • 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.
FEEDBACK