ob·ses·sive

[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
4.
someone who has an obsession or obsessions; a person who thinks or behaves in an obsessive manner.

Origin:
1910–15; obsess(ion) + -ive

ob·ses·sive·ly, adverb
ob·ses·sive·ness, noun
non·ob·ses·sive, adjective
non·ob·ses·sive·ly, adverb
non·ob·ses·sive·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To obsessive
00:10
Obsessive is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Collins
World English Dictionary
obsessive (əbˈsɛsɪv) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
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
 
n
3.  psychiatry a person subject to obsession
4.  a person who is continually preoccupied with a particular activity, person, or thing
 
ob'sessively
 
adv
 
ob'sessiveness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

obsessive
formed 1911 from obsess + -ive. Related: Obsessively. Obsessive-compulsive is attested from 1927.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

obsessive ob·ses·sive (əb-sěs'ĭv, ŏb-)
adj.
Of, characteristic of, or causing an obsession.


ob·ses'sive n.
ob·ses'sive·ness n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Example sentences
It isn't rational to be attracted to solving questions that require obsessive
  immersion.
But her grim, monochromatic performance is too closed in to allow us to feel
  her obsessive rage.
Its obsessive clarity turns out to be the perfect basis for digital information.
Her acting career afforded her memorable turns as a variety of sensitive souls
  and obsessive monsters.
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