OBSESSION • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Obsession

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/əbsˈɛʃən/ Listen

noun

Obsession n.

The act of besieging. (archaic)

The state of being besieged; used specifically of a person beset by a spirit from without. (archaic) "Whether by obsession or possession, I will not determine."

An excessive preoccupation of the thoughts or feelings; the persistent haunting or domination of the mind by a particular desire, idea, or image.

Hence: Any driving motive; a compelling goal; not necessarily implying a negative judgment, as does sense 3; as, the coach was obsessed with winning the state championship

Something that causes an obsession (3).

The state of being obsessed.

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Etymology of 'Obsession'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Obsession" Quotes from Famous Books

... makes him think—he thinks she thinks—Oh, I don't know how to 'splain it to you!" And Margaret Hamilton hastily abandoned so complicated a problem. In reality she was meeting it with a wisdom far beyond her years. The boy was in the grip of an obsession. Margaret Hamilton would have been sadly puzzled by the words, but in her wise little head lay the ...

— Many Kingdoms • Elizabeth Jordan

... and even to continue their kind. In their anxiety to save their own souls and the souls of others, they were content to leave the material world, which they identified with the principle of evil, to perish around them. This obsession lasted for a thousand years. The revival of Roman law, of the Aristotelian philosophy, of ancient art and literature at the close of the Middle Ages, marked the return of Europe to native ideals of life and conduct, to saner, manlier views of the world. ...

— The Golden Bough - A study of magic and religion • Sir James George Frazer

... of that night's events became more and more accelerated, Wilbur could not but notice the change in Moran. It was very evident that the old Norse fighting blood of her was all astir; brutal, merciless, savage beyond all control. A sort of obsession seized upon her at the near approach of battle, a frenzy of action that was checked by nothing—that was insensible to all restraint. At times it was impossible for him to make her hear him, or when she heard ...

— Moran of the Lady Letty • Frank Norris

... word explains almost every inexplicable act in life." He took up a knife and held it level on his palm. "There you have the normal condition, but once one end swings up you get Genius and all the Arts, or madness and crime and the obsession of one idea: one definite, over-mastering idea that drives every force harnessed ...

— The Pointing Man - A Burmese Mystery • Marjorie Douie

... began to be perceptible the very slightest rift within the lute of her romance. Was her love for Sandeau really love, or was it only passion? In his absence, at any rate, the old obsession still continued. Here we see, first of all, intense pleasure shading off into a sort of maternal fondness. She sends Sandeau adoring letters. She is afraid that his delicate ...

— Famous Affinities of History, Vol 1-4, Complete - The Romance of Devotion • Lyndon Orr

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