noun
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psychiatry a persistent idea or impulse that continually forces its way into consciousness, often associated with anxiety and mental illness
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a persistent preoccupation, idea, or feeling
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the act of obsessing or the state of being obsessed
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonobsessionnoun
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self-obsessionnoun
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nonobsessionaladjective
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obsessionaladjective
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obsessionallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of obsession
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
Explanation
If you have an obsession, you're totally fixated on something and unhealthily devoted to it. Some common obsessions include fantasy football leagues, celebrity gossip, and Elvis memorabilia. Obsession is kind of like a passion for something that crosses the line into crazy territory. Sometimes people get so preoccupied with their obsessions that it makes them anxious or emotionally unstable. If you have an obsession with the Yankees, for example, you might go to every single game, skip work to watch spring training, paper your room with Yankees posters, and write love notes to Derek Jeter.
Vocabulary lists containing obsession
Vocabulary from an excerpt from "Confessions of a 30-Year-Old Gamer," by Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates
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Derek Walcott (1930-2017) Tribute List
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The Boy Who Invented TV
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
New Test coach Stephen Fleming said he shared English cricket's "obsession" with the Ashes and arrives with the goal to "beat the Aussies".
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
And 10,000 is about the number of oak seedlings he’s entrusted to the hands of people who pledged to care for the tree that has become his mission and obsession.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
Her protagonist - who is 50 - has a slight obsession with sagging skin, which will no doubt strike a chord with many.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
The mix of star power, eye-popping wealth and references to an ancient wedding tradition made the saga an instant media obsession in China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
First, she has kind of an obsession with disco balls.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
The rediscovery of Homer, alien obsessions, a novel of the Roman Republic’s fall and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
This isn’t all that uncommon: Trends crop up in filmmaking all the time, as potential narratives emerge from real-life events and cultural obsessions.
From Salon ● May 25, 2026
I am growing to love Jane Schoenbrun’s exfoliation of ’80s horror obsessions, especially for the movie’s nonjudgmental embrace: Let these movies be free in all their “problematic” badness and let them work on you.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
Compulsions are the repetitive acts that can be mental or physical that the individual feels compelled to do to temporarily relieve the stress of obsessions.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
Had my dual obsessions with the egg and Art3mis finally driven me completely insane?
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
