obsession

obsession — noun

1. a feeling that grips your mind so strongly that you cannot stop thinking about a

1.nounB2
Definition

a feeling that grips your mind so strongly that you cannot stop thinking about a person, activity, or idea, even when you want to.

Example

Mei's obsession with Korean dramas keeps her awake until three every morning.

obsession with + noun showing the focus of the fixation

The detective's obsession with the cold case slowly destroyed his marriage.

obsession with + noun describing an absorbing topic

Common collocations
  • unhealthy obsession
  • lifelong obsession
  • national obsession
  • develop an obsession
  • border on obsession
Synonyms
  • fixation

    near-synonym, slightly more clinical and often shorter-lived

  • preoccupation

    milder; the thoughts dominate but feel less compulsive

  • mania

    stronger and more enthusiastic, often used about a craze shared by many people

  • compulsion

    stresses the inability to stop a behaviour, not just thoughts

Antonyms
  • indifference

    complete lack of interest, the opposite emotional state

  • detachment

    calm distance from the topic, free of emotional grip

Grammar Patterns

obsession with + noun

obsession about + noun

an obsession of [possessive]

Usage Note

Often carries a negative or worried tone, suggesting the feeling is excessive or harmful. Frequently followed by 'with', less often by 'about'. The possessive subject usually names the person whose mind is gripped.

Common Mistakes

He has an obsession of football.
He has an obsession with football.
the standard preposition is 'with', not 'of'.
She is obsession about her weight.
She is obsessed about her weight.' / 'She has an obsession with her weight.
'obsession' is a noun; the adjective form is 'obsessed'.

Word family

  • obsess
    verbC1
  • obsessed
    adjectiveB2
  • obsessive
    adjectiveC1
  • obsessively
    adverbC1
  • obsessiveness
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All five words describe a mind stuck on one topic, but they differ in intensity and tone. 'Preoccupation' is the gentlest — your thoughts keep returning to something, perhaps a worry about a sick parent, but you can still function normally. 'Obsession' is stronger and usually unhealthy: the thought grips you and bothers others. 'Fixation' sounds slightly more clinical and often points to one fixed object, such as a fixation on a celebrity. 'Mania' suggests excited, public enthusiasm — a shared craze, like the country's mania for a new pop group — and is rarely worrying in the same way. 'Compulsion', by contrast, focuses on action rather than thought: a compulsion to wash your hands, to gamble, to check the door again. Compare: 'a preoccupation with grades' (mild concern), 'an obsession with grades' (harmful), 'a compulsion to recheck answers' (an action you cannot resist).

obsession ↗fixationpreoccupation ↗maniacompulsion

Common collocations

Nouns

  • national obsession
  • childhood obsession
  • current obsession
  • secret obsession

Phrases

  • become an obsession
  • develop an obsession
  • border on obsession
  • have an unhealthy obsession
  • fuel someone's obsession

Prepositions

  • obsession with
  • obsession about
  • obsession over

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Borrowed in the late 1500s from Latin 'obsessio', meaning a siege or blockade, from 'obsidere' ('to sit down before, occupy'). Early English use described an evil spirit besieging a person's soul from outside, as opposed to 'possession' (taking over from inside). Over time the religious idea faded, and by the 1900s 'obsession' settled into its modern psychological sense: a thought or feeling that keeps surrounding the mind and refuses to leave.