obsession
noun
Simple meaning
An unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhbsehshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əbˈsɛʃən
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.
noun
An unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone
An idea that engenders a compulsive or irrational preoccupation, or the preoccupation thereby engendered.
An activity or entity that inspires a compulsive and potentially unhealthy fixation, or the fixation thereby inspired.
The quality of being obsessed.
Influence or control by evil spirits without possession.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone
In this sense, obsession 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.
- Emotional tone
- Context-dependent
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Moderately 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.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “obsession” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
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.