obsessed

adjective

ob·​sessed əb-ˈsest 

äb-

: preoccupied with or haunted by some idea, interest, etc. : being in a state of obsession

This was because on vacations my father was a man obsessed.

—Bill Bryson

Gatsby the obsessed lover, erecting an empire and stringing it with lights to impress a girl …

—Claudia Roth Pierpont

She was at once obsessed with being a good person and brutal to the people who worked for her.

—Rachel Abramowitz

But it seems we're becoming so obsessed with healthy eating, we are embarking on up to three different diets a year.

—Unity Blott

—sometimes used in combination

a sports-obsessed teenager

obsessedly

əb-ˈse-səd-lē 

-ˈsest-lē

äb-

adverb

"He wants her to be free of him and she doesn't know that she is obsessedly in love with him."

—Anthony Hopkins

Synonyms

• happy
• hung up
• queer

Examples of obsessed in a Sentence

the youngster was so obsessed with video games that he had little interest in playing outside

Recent Examples on the Web

Authorities framed the killings as the work of a jealous and enraged lover who became obsessed with Maria Tran while the two had an affair in the months leading up to the shooting. —Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 12 Nov. 2024

For so long, the art world has been quite conservative and obsessed in its categorization: an art fair has to look like this, a gallery has to be run like that. —Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 5 Nov. 2024

The Klan organized a boycott of her stockyard, forcing the business to close. After 1964, Mars largely stopped taking photos but remained obsessed with the murders. —Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2024

Or, if you’re obsessed with your current comforter but still need a little extra weight for winter, check out this blue diamond gauze quilt, which makes for the ideal bedding layer. —Megan Schaltegger, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of obsess

First Known Use

1888, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing obsessed

• self-obsessed