Obsessive: meaning, definitions and examples

Use this term when someone is persistently preoccupied with something or someone in a way that may interfere with their normal activities.

• His obsessive thoughts about cleanliness have taken over his life.
• She's obsessive about checking her emails every minute.

Best used when someone is excessively attached or focused on a specific thing or person, typically to an unhealthy extent.

• She's fixated on her ex-boyfriend and can't seem to move on.
• He is fixated on the idea of becoming famous, ignoring all other aspects of his life.

This word fits when describing behaviors that people feel driven to perform, often repetitively and without rational thought. It has a clinical connotation related to psychological disorders.

• He has a compulsive need to wash his hands multiple times a day.
• She has a compulsive shopping habit that is affecting her finances.

A common term for being dominantly or excessively preoccupied with a person, thing, or idea, in a way that it captures one's attention almost entirely.

• He is obsessed with improving his golf game, practicing every day for hours.
• She is obsessed with her new fitness tracker, checking her progress constantly.

For extreme enthusiasm or intense, uncritical devotion to a cause, often to the point of irrationality. This term can sometimes carry a negative implication of excessive zeal.

• He is fanatical about his favorite football team, going to every match and collecting all their merchandise.
• Her fanatical dedication to her political beliefs makes it hard to have a balanced discussion.