obsession

B2 Topic:Psychology & Behavior

US /əbˈsɛʃən/ UK /əbˈsɛʃən/ See IPA manual

Freq #6614

Meanings

1

noun
A state of thinking about something or someone all the time, in an unhealthy way.

His obsession with money cost him his friends.
2

noun
A thing or activity that someone cannot stop thinking about.

Collecting old records became a real obsession for him.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a state of thinking about... fixation

2 noun · a thing or activity that... idée fixe

Word family

Forms obsessions

Derived forms obsessionismobsessionistself-obsession

Related forms obsess obsessed obsessional obsessiveobsessively

Etymology

From Latin obsessio (“a besieging”), from obsidere (“to besiege”); see obsess. Equivalent to obsess + -ion.

Topics

Psychology & Behavior Abstract Ideas

External links

# obsession

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /əbˈsɛʃən/
**IPA (UK):** /əbˈsɛʃən/
**Frequency rank:** 6614

## Meanings
1. A state of thinking about something or someone all the time, in an unhealthy way.
2. A thing or activity that someone cannot stop thinking about.

## Examples
- His obsession with money cost him his friends.
- Collecting old records became a real obsession for him.

## Derived Forms
- obsessionism
- obsessionist
- self-obsession

## Related Forms
- obsess
- obsessed
- obsessional
- obsessive
- obsessively

## Etymology
From Latin obsessio (“a besieging”), from obsidere (“to besiege”); see obsess. Equivalent to obsess + -ion.

## AI Etymology
Obsession comes from Latin obsessio (“a besieging”), from obsidere (“to besiege”); see obsess. Equivalent to obsess + -ion. Modern senses include a state of thinking about something or someone all the time, in an unhealthy way and a thing or activity that someone cannot stop thinking about. The wider word family includes derivatives such as obsessionism, obsessionist, and self-obsession and related forms such as obsess, obsessed, obsessional, and obsessive.

## Topics
- Psychology & Behavior
- Abstract Ideas

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