obsess
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
to think or talk about something all the time because you are very interested in it.
to be preoccupied with a single topic or emotion to a degree that excludes other thoughts. Often used intransitively with 'about' or 'over'.
Simple“He started to obsess about his weight after his doctor mentioned it.”
In context“It is easy to obsess over minor details when you are under a lot of pressure to succeed.”
UsageCommonly followed by the prepositions 'about' or 'over'.
- 02 C1 Advanced
when a thought or worry stays in your mind and you cannot stop thinking about it.
to preoccupy or dominate the thoughts of someone intensely. In this sense, the subject is the thought or idea, and the person is the object.
Simple“The fear of failing the exam began to obsess her every night.”
In context“The possibility of a security breach began to obsess the lead engineer, leading to several sleepless nights of testing.”
UsageUsed transitively; the thought or feeling is the subject.
Synonymshauntpreoccupy
“He's getting a divorce'." Alongside scenes where Guardiola obsesses over tactics, there are many where he gives candid speeches and berates his team.”
“As we obsess over the tariff issue, the Americans are barely noticing.”
From Latin obsessus, perfect passive participle of obsideō (“sit on or in, remain, besiege”), from ob (“before”) + sedeō (“I sit”); see sit, session, etc.; compare assess, possess.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.