possessed by

Idioms  

1. Driven by, obsessed with, as in He was possessed by the idea of becoming a millionaire. This idiom employs possess in the sense of “dominate one's thoughts or ideas,” a usage dating from the late 1500s.

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Example Sentences

“Whatever happened to her isn’t something the police can handle. She vanished into thin air while possessed by someone who might have been my ex-girlfriend.”

From Literature

The crowd was screaming his name while dancing, wholly possessed by the deeply ancestral, bewitchingly robotic beat of the drum machine coming from Uncle Jamm’s Army’s regular set-up — a temple of sound worship made up of 100 Cerwin Vega speakers.

From Los Angeles Times

In Season 2, he is possessed by the Mind Flayer and feels pain when the vines in the Upside Down are damaged or Demogorgons are hurt.

From Los Angeles Times

“After being possessed by a vampire?”

From Literature

The fighting son of one of the most famous boxers in British history, told by his school he was possessed by demons aged 12, at the centre of a two-year doping scandal and suffering defeat at the hands of the son of his father's arch nemesis – Benn has dragged himself away from the brink over and and over again.

From BBC