as in impulsive
caused by or suggestive of an irresistible urge
intrigued by the man's obsessive counting of everyday objects
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Recent Examples of obsessive
My debut novel, To the Moon and Back, is about one woman’s obsessive quest to become the first Cherokee astronaut.
—
Eliana Ramage
september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
One of those eccentricities was James’s obsessive fixation on witches.
—Emily Zarevich, JSTOR Daily, 3 Sep. 2025
Over the weekend, as online sleuths scoured photos of Trump for evidence of any frailty, the political scientist Ian Bremmer pointed out that obsessive scrutiny of a leader’s health is a hallmark of authoritarian countries.
—Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2025
Just as Manning accelerated his growth through obsessive attention to detail, studying defenses and the sleight of hand of play-action artists like Boomer Esiason, Nix is more than willing to get bleary-eyed in the film room or pick the brain of future Hall of Famer Drew Brees.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 1 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for obsessive
Eliana Ramage
september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
One of those eccentricities was James’s obsessive fixation on witches.
—Emily Zarevich, JSTOR Daily, 3 Sep. 2025
Over the weekend, as online sleuths scoured photos of Trump for evidence of any frailty, the political scientist Ian Bremmer pointed out that obsessive scrutiny of a leader’s health is a hallmark of authoritarian countries.
—Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2025
Just as Manning accelerated his growth through obsessive attention to detail, studying defenses and the sleight of hand of play-action artists like Boomer Esiason, Nix is more than willing to get bleary-eyed in the film room or pick the brain of future Hall of Famer Drew Brees.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 1 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for obsessive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obsessive
Adjective
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Bold steps need calculated moves, not impulsive reactions.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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Ari is a rich kid from New York, who is an impulsive motormouth desperate for Sam’s affection.—
Esther Zuckerman,
IndieWire,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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To identify workaholics, the researchers used established psychological surveys that measure both excessive and compulsive working tendencies.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
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These states often trigger compulsive scrolling or posting, not because of the content itself, but because of the emotional tension underneath.—
Connie Etemadi,
USA Today,
28 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Obsessive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obsessive. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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