obsessed

adjective

ob·​sessed əb-ˈsest 

äb-

: preoccupied with or haunted by some idea, interest, etc. : being in a state of obsession

This was because on vacations my father was a man obsessed.

—Bill Bryson

Gatsby the obsessed lover, erecting an empire and stringing it with lights to impress a girl …

—Claudia Roth Pierpont

She was at once obsessed with being a good person and brutal to the people who worked for her.

—Rachel Abramowitz

But it seems we're becoming so obsessed with healthy eating, we are embarking on up to three different diets a year.

—Unity Blott

—sometimes used in combination

a sports-obsessed teenager

obsessedly

əb-ˈse-səd-lē 

-ˈsest-lē

äb-

adverb

"He wants her to be free of him and she doesn't know that she is obsessedly in love with him."

—Anthony Hopkins

Synonyms

• happy
• hung up
• queer

Examples of obsessed in a Sentence

the youngster was so obsessed with video games that he had little interest in playing outside

Recent Examples on the Web

So many people are about to be obsessed with your new album, but is there anything you’re obsessed with at the moment? —Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2025

Yet without a corpse in sight, recluse Vesta becomes obsessed with solving the would-be murder. —Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 16 May 2025

The mantis immediately becomes obsessed with her, because duh; lethal hotties can sniff each other out. —Bethy Squires, Vulture, 16 May 2025

The TikTok Response Since the video was shared online, internet users have become obsessed with the idea of a barking cat. —Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of obsess

First Known Use

1888, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing obsessed

• self-obsessed

Rhymes for obsessed

• acquiesced
• coalesced
• dispossessed
• manifest
• overdressed
• overstressed
• prepossessed
• reassessed
• reinvest
• repossessed
• unaddressed
• uncompressed