obsessive

adjective

ob·ses·sive | \ äb-ˈse-siv

, əb-\

Definition of obsessive

1a : tending to cause obsession

b : excessive often to an unreasonable degree

2 : of, relating to, or characterized by obsession : deriving from obsession

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Examples of obsessive in a Sentence

Many dancers are obsessive about their weight. He is an obsessive workaholic who never stops thinking about his job. an obsessive interest in space travel The new therapy is supposed to help people control their obsessive thoughts.

Recent Examples on the Web

Idris Elba has scored four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for his role as John Luther, an obsessive, dedicated, and sometimes violent police officer investigating Morgan, a brilliant psychopath and murderer. — Amanda Mitchell, Marie Claire, "8 TV Shows Like 'Killing Eve' to Binge If You Can't Wait for Season 2," 17 Jan. 2019 Blum has a soft spot for stories about scientists who challenged the status quo—people who were also complicated, obsessive, and difficult personalities. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "We have food safety laws thanks to 19th century “poison squad”," 26 Nov. 2018 By extension, the same thing goes for OnePlus: the two brands are both obsessive in their pursuit of speed. — Vlad Savov, The Verge, "McLaren and OnePlus kick off exclusive partnership with McLaren OnePlus 6T," 11 Dec. 2018 That kind of camera framing and anchoring tweak sells just how detail-obsessive Smash Ultimate's design team is. — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, "Smash Bros. Ultimate review: The best fighting game on any Nintendo system," 6 Dec. 2018 Before you get your royal-obsessive hopes up, know that there won't be pictures of Prince George and Princess Charlotte petting a giraffe or even of Kate Middleton cheering Will on at his appearance. — Kayleigh Roberts, Marie Claire, "Kate Middleton Isn't Joining Prince William on His Upcoming Trip to Africa—And Here's Why," 22 Sep. 2018 And yet, few economic policies have been subjected to such obsessive criticism, in particular by mainstream (which is to say, conservative) economists, as the minimum wage. — James K. Galbraith, Fortune, "The Minimum Wage Just Turned 80. Economists Don’t Give It Enough Credit," 25 June 2018 For the next six months, my teenage self developed an obsessive hair-counting habit every time some collected in my hairbrush. — Liv Boeree, Vox, "How an 18th-century priest gave us the tools to make better decisions," 30 Nov. 2018 In an obsessive search for witnesses, Mr. Lanzmann tracked down some of the last surviving members of the Sonderkommandos, groups of Jewish prisoners ordered to assist in the arrival and disposal of victims for the gas chambers and crematoriums. — Harrison Smith, Washington Post, "Claude Lanzmann, chronicler of the Holocaust and director of ‘Shoah,’ dies at 92," 5 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'obsessive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.