obsessive

[uhb-ses-iv]

adjective

1. being, pertaining to, or resembling an obsession.

   an obsessive fear of illness.

2. causing an obsession.

3. excessive, especially extremely so.

noun

1. someone who has an obsession or obsessions; a person who thinks or behaves in an obsessive manner.

obsessive

/ əbˈsɛsɪv /

adjective

1. psychiatry motivated by a persistent overriding idea or impulse, often associated with anxiety and mental illness

2. continually preoccupied with a particular activity, person, or thing

noun

1. psychiatry a person subject to obsession

2. a person who is continually preoccupied with a particular activity, person, or thing

Other Word Forms

• obsessively adverb
• obsessiveness noun
• nonobsessive adjective
• nonobsessively adverb
• nonobsessiveness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of obsessive¹

First recorded in 1910–15; obsess(ion) + -ive

Example Sentences

What makes obsessive political preoccupation distinct is its collective reinforcement: Social media, partisan news outlets and aspects of modern therapy have turned emotional validation into moral virtue.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Critics also say the focus on efficiency eventually became obsessive, and led to workers’ mental exhaustion and alienation.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

An internet obsessive and technologist, Grimes knew that she’d struck a vein of something real in the substanceless expanse of the internet.

Read more on Salon

It is still widely considered a benchmark for open-world video games due to its depth and obsessive attention to detail, despite coming out in 2018.

Read more on BBC

The question isn’t whether the World Cup will convince enough people to become fans or to move from casual to dedicated or obsessive fans.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bigoted 
• dogmatic 
• enthusiastic 
• fervent 
• frenzied 
• impassioned 
• narrow-minded 
• passionate 
• rabid 
• single-minded 
• stubborn 
• violent 
• zealous