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
Some of the most defining writers of the modern age were fixated on the idea of Dante as a contemporary, and their recognition points up the poet’s unorthodoxies.
—Claudia Roth Pierpont, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
Who would blame them for assuming that a woman who fixates on where her novels are placed at an airport bookstore cares about money and material things?
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2025
And unlike Hemingway, who tends to be fixated on honorable men thrust into, or just emerging from, Big Moments—frequently war—McGuane is interested in large-souled men in smaller moments.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2025
Wall Street will also be fixated on whether big tech companies can continue to impress with earnings.
—John Towfighi, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fixate
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Claudia Roth Pierpont, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
Who would blame them for assuming that a woman who fixates on where her novels are placed at an airport bookstore cares about money and material things?
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2025
And unlike Hemingway, who tends to be fixated on honorable men thrust into, or just emerging from, Big Moments—frequently war—McGuane is interested in large-souled men in smaller moments.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2025
Wall Street will also be fixated on whether big tech companies can continue to impress with earnings.
—John Towfighi, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 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 29 Nov. 2025.
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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