obsessive-compulsive

adjective

ob·​ses·​sive-com·​pul·​sive äb-ˈse-siv-kəm-ˈpəl-siv 

əb-

: relating to or characterized by recurring obsessions and compulsions especially as symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder

an obsessive-compulsive personality

obsessive-compulsive behavior

obsessive-compulsive noun

Examples of obsessive-compulsive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Jacintha, a horseback rider, was familiar with ketamine as a horse tranquilizer but had never heard of it as a last-stop mental health treatment for treatment-resistant patients like Lucy, who was diagnosed with depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. —Rachel Hale, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2025

Researchers focused on five serious and common mental health symptoms: suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, delusions, mania and obsessive-compulsive behavior. —Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025

These range from perseverative behavior after damage to the frontal lobes, obsessive-compulsive disorders, repetitive actions in severe autism and in Tourette’s syndrome, all the way to self-destructive forms of addiction. —Anil Seth, Big Think, 20 Aug. 2025

This underinformed and out-of-date article could have offered a good-faith exploration of obsessive-compulsive disorder. —Harper’s Magazine, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1927, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for obsessive-compulsive

• compulsive
• convulsive
• expulsive
• impulsive
• propulsive
• repulsive
• electroconvulsive

Medical Definition

obsessive-compulsive

1 of 2 adjective

: relating to or characterized by recurring obsessions and compulsions especially as symptoms of an obsessive-compulsive disorder

obsessive-compulsive

2 of 2 noun

: an individual affected with an obsessive-compulsive disorder