Adjacent Words

Obsession definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

OBSESS'ION, n. [L. obsessio.] The act of besieging; the first attack of Satan antecedent to possession. [Little used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an irrational motive for performing trivial or repetitive actions, even against your will; "her compulsion to wash her hands repeatedly" [syn: compulsion, obsession]
2: an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone [syn: obsession, fixation]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1680 1. a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling; broadly compelling motivation <an obsession with profits> 2. something that causes an obsession • obsessional adjective • obsessionally adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the act of obsessing or the state of being obsessed. 2 a persistent idea or thought dominating a person's mind. 3 a condition in which such ideas are present. Derivatives: obsessional adj. obsessionalism n. obsessionally adv. Etymology: L obsessio (as OBSESS)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Obsession Ob*ses"sion, n. [L. obsessio: cf.F. obsession.] 1. The act of besieging. --Johnson. 2. The state of being besieged; -- used specifically of a person beset by a spirit from without. --Tylor. Whether by obsession or possession, I will not determine. --Burton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(obsessions) If you say that someone has an obsession with a person or thing, you think they are spending too much time thinking about them. She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher... 95% of patients know their obsessions are irrational. N-VAR: oft N with n

Moby Thesaurus

absorbed attention, absorption, abstraction, abulia, alienation, anxiety, anxiety equivalent, anxiety state, apathy, application, bedevilment, bewitchery, bewitchment, captivation, catatonic stupor, complex, compulsion, concentration, contemplation, conviction, deep study, deep thought, dejection, depression, detachment, elation, emotionalism, enchantment, engagement, engrossment, entrancement, euphoria, fascination, fixation, fixed idea, folie du doute, hang-up, hypercathexis, hypochondria, hysteria, hysterics, idee fixe, illusion, immersion, indifference, insensibility, intentness, involvement, irresistible impulse, lethargy, mania, maya, meditation, melancholia, mental distress, monomania, morbid drive, obsessive compulsion, passion, pathological indecisiveness, phobia, possession, preoccupation, prepossession, profound thought, psychalgia, psychomotor disturbance, rapt attention, ruling passion, single-mindedness, spirit control, studiousness, study, stupor, submersion, thing, tic, twitching, unresponsiveness, witchery, withdrawal