fixated; fixating
1
: to focus or concentrate one's gaze or attention intently or obsessively
… he was fixating on the airport in the distance, trying to find the assigned runway.—
Richard L. Collins
Richard L. Collins… the tourist mind tended to fixate on ice cream cones …—T. Coraghessan Boyle
T. Coraghessan Boyle2
: to undergo arrestment at a stage of development
1
: to make fixed, stationary, or unchanging
2
: to focus one's gaze on
3
: to direct (the libido) toward an infantile form of gratification
Examples of fixate in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Instead, Goncalves said Neves-Valente may have fixated on what Loureiro had come to represent.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 31 Dec. 2025
While the bank chief doesn’t think most Americans should fixate so much on the Fed’s rate moves, Wall Street has been counting on more easing to keep the stock market rally going.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 29 Dec. 2025
Brigitte Bardot, the French actor, style icon, and animal activist who fixated the world with her insouciant, smoky-eyed sensuality, has died aged 91.
—Isobel Thompson, Vogue, 28 Dec. 2025
Your task in 2026 is to stop fixating on how money will come and start embodying the version of yourself who already has it.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 23 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fixate
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Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 31 Dec. 2025
While the bank chief doesn’t think most Americans should fixate so much on the Fed’s rate moves, Wall Street has been counting on more easing to keep the stock market rally going.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 29 Dec. 2025
Brigitte Bardot, the French actor, style icon, and animal activist who fixated the world with her insouciant, smoky-eyed sensuality, has died aged 91.
—Isobel Thompson, Vogue, 28 Dec. 2025
Your task in 2026 is to stop fixating on how money will come and start embodying the version of yourself who already has it.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 23 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fixate
Cite this Entry
“Fixate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fixate. Accessed 7 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
fixate
verb
fix·ate
ˈfik-ˌsāt 
fixated; fixating
1
: to focus one's gaze on
2
: to direct (the libido) toward an infantile form of gratification
1
: to focus or concentrate one's gaze or attention
an infant with normal vision … will fixate on a light held before him—The Journal of the American Medical Association
The Journal of the American Medical Association2
: to undergo arrestment at a stage of development
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