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Synonyms

obsession

American  
[uhb-sesh-uhn] / əbˈsɛʃ ən /

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.

  3. the state of being obsessed. obsessed.

  4. the act of obsessing.

obsession British  
/ 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

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

"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
obsession Cultural  

  1. A preoccupation with a feeling or idea. In psychology, an obsession is similar to a compulsion.

Other Word Forms

  • nonobsession noun
  • nonobsessional adjective
  • obsessional adjective
  • obsessionally adverb
  • self-obsession noun

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”; obsess ) + -iō -ion

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.