as in staring
to look at or think about something constantly; to give all of your attention to something
—usually + on or upon
The cat was fixated on a small hole in the wall. Why do journalists fixate on scandals?
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Recent Examples of fixating
Parasocially fixating on microcelebrities who want their money.
—
Daniel Kolitz, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Delivering solid financial growth has become more important than ever for Netflix as management has steered investors from fixating on how many subscribers its service gains from one quarter to the next.
—Fortune Editors, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2025
The trust economics of modern hospitality Although occupancy rates are important business metrics in the hospitality industry, fixating on them shows a misunderstanding of the economics of hospitality in the digital age.
—Ascend Agency, Oc Register, 21 Oct. 2025
Some teams — Stoke in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Brentford now — might find that fixating on long throw-ins works.
—Oliver Kay, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
Threat hunts often risk tunnel vision — fixating on a single artifact or path.
—Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
The trio regrouped with nearly a dozen other musicians in the studio, fixating on improvisation.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2025
Some lottery players take their time carefully picking their tickets, fixating on the right set of numbers.
—Daniella Segura, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2025
The Ed Gein Story doesn’t want to leave anything to the imagination, but also wants to criticize viewers for fixating on and becoming increasingly desensitized to monstrosities.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Daniel Kolitz, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Delivering solid financial growth has become more important than ever for Netflix as management has steered investors from fixating on how many subscribers its service gains from one quarter to the next.
—Fortune Editors, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2025
The trust economics of modern hospitality Although occupancy rates are important business metrics in the hospitality industry, fixating on them shows a misunderstanding of the economics of hospitality in the digital age.
—Ascend Agency, Oc Register, 21 Oct. 2025
Some teams — Stoke in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Brentford now — might find that fixating on long throw-ins works.
—Oliver Kay, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
Threat hunts often risk tunnel vision — fixating on a single artifact or path.
—Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
The trio regrouped with nearly a dozen other musicians in the studio, fixating on improvisation.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2025
Some lottery players take their time carefully picking their tickets, fixating on the right set of numbers.
—Daniella Segura, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2025
The Ed Gein Story doesn’t want to leave anything to the imagination, but also wants to criticize viewers for fixating on and becoming increasingly desensitized to monstrosities.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fixating
Verb
-
Below-average play is often staring you right in the face while catastrophe lurks around the corner.—
Matt Schneidman,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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The face in question, below, involves Sherman staring with her mouth agape.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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After LaRavia made 10 of 11 shots to introduce himself to fans and Minnesota star Anthony Edwards, the Lakers’ general manager splashed a photo of LaRavia gazing out of a window on the front page of a faux newspaper and printed it on a black T-shirt.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Jan. 2026
-
In the touching clip, the pair embraced each other while gazing at a sunny, scenic view.—
Escher Walcott,
PEOPLE,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Here, astronomers are gawking at a radio signal that appears crudely on the screen like a crooked game of Pong but turns out to be a line of data repeated every 78 seconds from 600 light-years away.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
7 Nov. 2025
-
But the cringe-comedy antics of the original NBC series landed far better in Season 3 than in Season 1, once audiences began to truly love the characters instead of just gawking at them.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Kenny Chesney walks around office on the 72nd floor of One World Trade Center in New York City, peering out the floor-to-ceiling windows in search of his skyline barometers—the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and one of his favorite places to perform, MetLife Stadium.—
Mandy Taheri,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
-
This way of peering at screen culture from an inexact distance, which also comes up in a scolding scene where Ethan scrolls aimlessly through something like TikTok, rankles in a play that is otherwise so precise about physical time and space.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Through videos he's forced to send in while trying to stay alive (to take viewers to the frontlines of the dangerous game), the unlikely hero turns delightfully anarchic and winds up getting much of the public watching the show to be on his side.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Mamdani was seen this past Sunday in the Madison Square Garden upper level watching the Knicks ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
The valuation gap could be wide if OpenAI is eyeing $1 trillion, according to Nick Patience, who leads AI coverage at The Futurum Group.—
Tasmin Lockwood,
CNBC,
6 Jan. 2026
-
The project has been in development for the past few months, with Sweeney eyeing to return to star and exec produce, and co-star Michele Morrone also looking to reprise.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
When Armistice Day became a federal holiday in 1938, many states had already begun observing it.—
Mike Snider,
USA Today,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Health inspectors cited the Sacramento grocery store after observing staff washing raw meat display plates in the preparation sink using handwashing soap and water.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Hours later, after dodging cow patties the size of dinner plates and gaping holes leading to marmot burrows, the locations are chosen and the traps are set.—
Glenn Zorpette,
IEEE Spectrum,
4 Nov. 2025
-
The team has not ruled out transitioning RHP Mason Miller and/or LHP Adrián Morejón back to the rotation, but that would also open gaping holes in the back of a bullpen that might not have Jason Adam (quad) ready at the start of the season.—
Jeff Sanders,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fixating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fixating. Accessed 8 Jan. 2026.
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