obsessive

[uh b-ses-iv]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR obsessive ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

being, pertaining to, or resembling an obsession: an obsessive fear of illness.

causing an obsession.

excessive, especially extremely so.

noun

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

Nearby words

Origin of obsessive

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

Related forms

ob·ses·sive·ly, adverbob·ses·sive·ness, nounnon·ob·ses·sive, adjectivenon·ob·ses·sive·ly, adverb

non·ob·ses·sive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for obsessive

Obsessive exercising and inadequate nutrition can, over time, put people at high risk for overuse injuries like stress fractures.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models|Carrie Arnold|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
McCauley may have married beneath her station, but Gordon-Levitt has obsessive fans.
All Your Internet Boyfriends Are Taken: Gosling, Cumberbatch, and now Joseph Gordon-Levitt|Melissa Leon|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Panicked, I reached out to hoarding experts, who often refer to any kind of obsessive digital collecting as “infomania.”
I’m a Digital Hoarder|Lizzie Crocker|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To his detractors, he was a half-mad paranoiac who nearly destroyed the CIA in his obsessive search for a Soviet mole.
The Bizarre Tale of Ben Bradlee, JFK, and the Master Spy|Will Rahn|October 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Besides his obsessive preparations, Leslie introduced another tool to the bank-robbing trade —“the little joker.”
The High Society Bank Robber of the 1800s|J. North Conway|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This brings us to a form of insanity which the obsessive may well bear in mind, namely, that known as manic-depressive.
Why Worry?|George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
There is an urgent and obsessive need to maintain control, never to be "out of control."
When You Don't Know Where to Turn|Steven J. Bartlett
Retrospective worry can be absolutely eliminated from the most obsessive mind by the practice of the veteran's philosophy.
Why Worry?|George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
Throughout his literary activity it has an obsessive hold on his mind.
Prophets of Dissent|Otto Heller
The most common of these obsessive acts is washing with water (washing obsession).
Totem and Taboo|Sigmund Freud

British Dictionary definitions for obsessive

obsessive

adjective

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

continually preoccupied with a particular activity, person, or thing

noun

psychiatry a person subject to obsession

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

Derived Formsobsessively, adverbobsessiveness, noun

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

Word Origin and History for obsessive

obsessive

adj.

1911, from obsess + -ive. Related: Obsessively. Obsessive-compulsive is attested from 1927.

Medicine definitions for obsessive

obsessive

[əb-sĕs′ĭv, ŏb-]

adj.

Of, characteristic of, or causing an obsession.

Related formsob•ses′sive n.

obsessive

adjective

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of obsessive

Examples from the Web for obsessive

obsessive

adjective

noun

obsessive

obsessive

adj.