obsess
verb
Simple meaning
To be preoccupied with a single topic or emotion.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhbsehsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əbˈsɛs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
passive voiceconstructed with "with"
To be preoccupied with a single topic or emotion.
“She is obsessing over her weight.”
transitive
To dominate the thoughts of someone.
intransitivecolloquialconstrued with over
To think or talk obsessively about.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (passive voice, constructed with "with") To be preoccupied with a single topic or emotion.
In this sense, obsess is a strong, expressive word and suggests enthusiasm that has gone past what most people would call reasonable. Among friends, and about hobbies, it can be worn proudly; about someone's politics or beliefs it usually sounds like criticism.
“She is obsessing over her weight.”
- Emotional tone
- Context-dependent
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use obsess
- “She is obsessing over her weight.”verb
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to be preoccupied with a single topic or emotion
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.