obsession

[ uhb-sesh-uhn ]
See synonyms for obsession on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.

  2. the idea, image, desire, feeling, etc., itself.

  1. the state of being obsessed.

  2. the act of obsessing.

Origin of obsession

1
First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin obsessiōn-, stem of obsessiō “blockade, siege,” from obsess(us) “occupied, besieged” (past participle of obsidēre “to occupy, besiege”; see obsess) + -iō -ion

Other words from obsession

  • ob·ses·sion·al, adjective
  • non·ob·ses·sion, noun
  • non·ob·ses·sion·al, adjective
  • self-ob·ses·sion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use obsession in a sentence

  • Modern experts in nervous and mental diseases have sometimes spoken of these states as obsessions.

  • The physicians had ordered her away from the Paris palace, with its gloomy decorations so stimulating to her obsessions.

    The Enemies of Women | Vicente Blasco Ibez
  • Partial obsessions are rather common and there are frequent inquiries as to the best means of treating such a case.

    Elementary Theosophy | L. W. Rogers
  • A patient who is suffering from obsessions must carry out certain abnormal actions, or be wretched.

  • Flaws or failures in the lens of reason allowing certain imprints to emerge, these become fixed ideas and obsessions.

    Feminism and Sex-Extinction | Arabella Kenealy

British Dictionary definitions for obsession

obsession

/ (əbˈsɛʃən) /


noun
  1. psychiatry a persistent idea or impulse that continually forces its way into consciousness, often associated with anxiety and mental illness

  2. a persistent preoccupation, idea, or feeling

  1. the act of obsessing or the state of being obsessed

Derived forms of obsession

  • obsessional, adjective
  • obsessionally, 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.