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
The first Finals version of Brown was already obsessive.
—
C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 1 June 2026
Behind Fernandez’s obsessive hitting tutelage, a young Bruins roster delivers national-best RBIs and on-base percentage.
—Liana Handler, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026
Demie, a music obsessive, recalls being extremely impressed by the needle drops that Levinson wrote in.
—Seija Rankin, HollywoodReporter, 31 May 2026
That obsessive attention to detail is what separates Mindelle's performance from a celebrity impersonation.
—Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 29 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for obsessive
C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 1 June 2026
Behind Fernandez’s obsessive hitting tutelage, a young Bruins roster delivers national-best RBIs and on-base percentage.
—Liana Handler, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026
Demie, a music obsessive, recalls being extremely impressed by the needle drops that Levinson wrote in.
—Seija Rankin, HollywoodReporter, 31 May 2026
That obsessive attention to detail is what separates Mindelle's performance from a celebrity impersonation.
—Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 29 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for obsessive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obsessive
Adjective
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Mickey Todiwala Leaving software engineering wasn't an impulsive decision.—
Mike Winters
Mickey Todiwala,
CNBC,
4 June 2026
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What moved me most in The Testaments was its cast of teenage girls — the Plums seemed to be sparkling, creative, impulsive, curious, deeply loyal, and ready to question the world around them.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
4 June 2026
Adjective
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Nilsson admits to suffering from horror vacui—a fear of empty space, which in her case reads less like a neurotic affliction than like compulsive conviviality.—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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Platforms will be required to introduce safety-by-design features, including protections against manipulative design that encourages compulsive use, and take action against underage accounts and harmful content.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 June 2026
Adjective
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But obsessional online culture has sought to answer questions of origin rather than waving them off.—
Ian Bogost,
The Atlantic,
12 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Obsessive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obsessive. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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