fixate

[ fik-seyt ]

verb (used without object)

, fix·at·ed, fix·at·ing.

1. to obsessively concentrate one's attention (usually followed by on ):

   Take something away from someone completely and they may fixate on it.

2. Psychoanalysis. to develop a fixation; suffer an arrest in one's emotional or sexual development:

   The patient fixates in an incestuous libido cycle, seeking to reconnect with an earlier aspect of her history.

3. to stabilize or become fixed.
4. to focus the eyes on an object or point.

verb (used with object)

, fix·at·ed, fix·at·ing.

1. to obsessively concentrate one's attention on.
2. Psychoanalysis. to cause (one's psychosexual development) to be arrested at an early point in life.
3. to make stable or stationary; fix:

   Using cement to fixate the cap on the head of the femur, while initially adding stability, has a chance of loosening in subsequent years.

4. 1. to focus (the eyes) on an object or point:

      The eye muscles ordinarily fixate the two eyes on a single target.

   2. to focus the eyes on (an object).

fixate

/ ˈfɪkseɪt /

verb

1. to become or cause to become fixed
2. to direct the eye or eyes at a point in space so that the image of the point falls on the centre (fovea) of the eye or eyes
3. psychol to engage in fixation
4. informal.
   tr; usually passive to obsess or preoccupy

Word History and Origins

Origin of fixate¹

First recorded in 1880–85; from Latin fix(us) “fixed, firm” ( fix ) + -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of fixate¹

C19: from Latin fixus fixed + -ate ¹

Example Sentences

And it’s natural that many of them then will fixate on the worst-case scenarios and live their lives with a sense of worry and dread.

From Los Angeles Times

One of the paradoxes of sleep is that the more we fixate on getting it, the less likely we are to achieve it.

From Los Angeles Times

Or maybe, like Martha, this act of kindness will prompt him to fixate on the Good Samaritan offering it.

From Los Angeles Times

Right-wing rhetoric drives them to fixate on strangers like employees at a federal building, college girls, or abortion providers, so they can blame these people instead of themselves for their personal failings.

From Salon

To side with the 5th Circuit, Alito had to fixate on a somewhat random period of English history in the 17th century—from James I to Charles I—to assert that the Constitution empowers courts to strike down appropriations that they dislike.

From Slate

Related Words

• haunt
• infatuate
• obsess