OBSESS Synonyms: 34 Similar and Opposite Words

obsess

verb

Definition of obsess

as in to attract

to hold one's attention to an extreme degree The TV show obsessed me so much that I was up all night watching.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of obsess That’s where Barkley came in, an excitable, friendly yellow lab who is obsessed with balls and could sniff out a green tennis ball in an entire stadium of purple ones. — Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, 11 Aug. 2026 But after Sunglass Hut gifted me a pair to test on three different vacations, I am officially obsessed. — Gina Vaynshteyn, StyleCaster, 11 Aug. 2026 Set before the books and HBO series, the nearly four-hour prequel deepens Westeros lore, blending Shakespearean drama with answers to questions fans obsess over. — Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026 This man was obsessed with Heather Snyder … Prosecutors painted a picture of that obsession — showing an image taken nearly seven months before the murder, of a car Holbrook also owned, near Joe Shymanski's house. — Nikki Battiste, CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for obsess

Recent Examples of Synonyms for obsess

Verb

Both lures are intended to attract bears while not providing them with actual food that can habituate them to humans.

— John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 14 Aug. 2026
The Tribune Editorial Board recently highlighted Cincinnati’s readiness plan, which anticipates attracting climate migrants in the decades ahead.

— Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of attract

Verb

Short trips and conversations with daily contacts, siblings and relatives will interest you.

— Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 10 Aug. 2026
But what really interested us with this movie was trying to understand the humanity and searching for and exploring the love and the loyalty to characters to have a dialogue with an audience and not do it for the sake of ego or shock.

— Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of interest

Verb

The 31-year-old rapper, a member of the megagroup NCT and the leader of its subgroup NCT 127, has seemingly always been fascinated by merging different genres to create a new song.

— Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 13 Aug. 2026
Questions around beauty and longing recur, as do keywords (such as ‘password’), names, references and scenic features, but what fascinated me most is that in principle each episode could be read as a little patchy universe on its own.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of fascinate

Verb

Fersko-Weiss had a friend who’d recently become a birth doula, and the concept intrigued him.

— Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
When Kansas City launched a program to help local businesses fill vacant storefronts during the FIFA World Cup, Béty Lê Shackelford was intrigued.

— Dylan Lysen, Kansas City Star, 4 Aug. 2026