Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Obsessive |
ObsessiveAdjective1. Characterized by or constituting an obsession; "the obsessional character of his response"; "obsessive gambling". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "obsessive" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1830. (references) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Medicine | Done under the stress of compulsion. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonym: ObsessiveSynonym: obsessional (adj). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Obsessive |
| English words defined with "obsessive": phaneromania. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "obsessive": Obsessive Behavior. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Obsessive" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. German (obsessively). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | How can you diagnose someone with an obsessive compulsive disorder, then act like I have some choice about barging in here? (As Good As It Gets; writing credit: Mark Andrus) Doctor how can you diagnose someone with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and then act like I had some choice about barging in here right now? (As Good As It Gets; writing credit: Mark Andrus, James L. Brooks) I, don't worry I'm not an obsessive packer; It's just asking people to help me schlep this stuff is a cheap and exploitative way of making new friends. (The Haunting; writing credit: David Self) Well, get rid of her, obsessive and shrill! (Friends; writing credit: Jörn O. Jensen; Birger Larsen) | |
Lyrics | With that obsessive little rich boy (I will buy you a new life; performing artist: Everclear) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Obsessive Love Theme (1998) Obsessive Love (1984) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Common obsessive fears of losing control need to be carefully distinguished from actual imminent loss of control. (references) | |
For obsessive compulsive behaviors that significantly disrupt daily functioning, fluoxetine, clomipramine, sertraline, and paroxetine may be prescribed. (references) | ||
When attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and frequent tics greatly interfere with academic performance or social adjustment, students should be placed in an educational setting that meets their individual needs. (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Turkmenistan | The obsessive focus of the media on President Niyazov intensified during the year and amplified the cult of personality centered around the President. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Dennis Miller | In the Catholic priest sex scandal, almost as shocking as the acts themselves was the way the local dioceses refused to take responsibility for their clergymen, instead shuffling them more frantically than a croupier with obsessive compulsive disorder. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Obsessive" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 99.36% of the time. "Obsessive" is used about 314 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 99.36% | 312 | 16,340 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.64% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 314 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "obsessive": become obsessive ♦ Obsessive Behavior ♦ obsessive fear ♦ obsessive occupation. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "obsessive": obsessive-compulsive, obsessive-compulsive, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality. | |
Ending with "obsessive": football-obsessive, impulsive-obsessive. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "obsessive"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | i ngulët (fixed, pathological). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | ملح (corn, cure, demanding, exigent, imperative, imperious, importunate, importune, insistent, insisting, interfering, pertinacious, pressing, salt, stringent, urgent), حصري, إستحواذي. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | завладяващ (compelling, conquering, exciting, irresistible). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 萦绕. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | vtíravý (catchy, haunting, ingratiating, obtrusive), utkvìlý (stiff), nutkavý (compulsive). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | okulogyr krise med tvangstanker (oculogyric crisis with obsessive thoughts), obsessiv-kompulsiv tilstand (obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessive-compulsive psychoneurosis), obsessiv-impulsiv (obsessive-compulsive), tvangstanke (compulsive thinking, obsessive thinking), tvangsneurotiker (obsessive neurotic), tvangsberøring (compulsive touching, obsessive touching), berøringsobsession (compulsive touching, obsessive touching), anankastisk neurotiker (obsessive neurotic). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | obsessief (obsessive-compulsive), dwangneurotisch (obsessive-compulsive), dwangneuroticus (obsessive neurotic), dwangneurose (obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessive-compulsive psychoneurosis), anancastische persoonlijkheid (obsessive neurotic), anancast (obsessive neurotic). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | عقده ای , دستخوش یک فکریامیل قوی . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | obsessiivis-kompulsiivinen neuroosi (obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessive-compulsive psychoneurosis), pakko-oireinen häiriö (obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessive-compulsive psychoneurosis), anankastinen neuroosi (obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessive-compulsive psychoneurosis). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | obsessionnel (obsessive-compulsive). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | zwanghaft (compulsive, compulsively), obsessiv. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | έμμονοσ (confirmed), βασανιστικόσ (torturous). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | שגיוני (capricious, flighty), דבוקי. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | kínzó (acute, agonizing, crucifying, excessive, excruciating, killing, racking, tearing, to keep sy on tenterhooks, tormentor, torturer). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | ossessivo (haunting, troublesome). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 강박관념 (Obsession). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | lhiantynagh (adherent, clinging, cohesive, haunting). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | obsessiveay obsessivo (obsessive-compulsive), pensamento obsessivo (compulsive thinking, obsessive thinking), neurótico obsessivo (obsessive neurotic), impulsão obsessiva de tocar (compulsive touching, obsessive touching), crise oculógira com pensamentos obsessivos (oculogyric crisis with obsessive thoughts), compulsivo (binding, compulsive). (various references) навязчивый (haunting, obtrusive). (various references) opsesivan, obuzet (possessed, smitten). (various references) obsesionante (besetting, haunting). (various references) överdriven (exaggerative, excessive, extravagant, fancy, flamboyant, fulsome, immoderate, inordinate, larger than life, outrageous, overblown, overdone, vaulting). (various references) saplantı haline gelmiş, sabit fikirli (dyed in the wool, hard core, hard-shell), akıldan hiç çıkmayan. (various references) всепоглинаючий (omnivorous, overmastering, overpowering), невідчепний (haunting, officious), нав'язливий (haunting, obtrusive). (various references) ám ảnh (besetting). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "obsessive": obsessively, obsessiveness, obsessivenesses, obsessives. (additional references) | |
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"Obsessive" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: obcessive, obsesive, obsessiv, obssesive, obssessive. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "obsessive" (pronounced ubse"siv) |
| 5 | -s e" s i v | excessive, recessive, successive. |
| 4 | -e" s i v | aggressive, depressive, expressive, impressive, oppressive, possessive, progressive, regressive, repressive, unimpressive. |
| 3 | -s i v | abrasive, abusive, adhesive, allusive, apprehensive, aversive, coercive, cohesive, collusive, comprehensive, compulsive, conclusive, conducive, convulsive, corrosive, counteroffensive, decisive, defensive, derisive, discursive, dismissive, dispersive, divisive, effusive, elusive, erosive, evasive, exclusive, expansive, expensive, explosive, extensive, hypertensive, illusive, impassive, impulsive, incisive, inclusive, inconclusive, indecisive, inexpensive, inoffensive, intrusive, invasive, massive, missive, nonexclusive, nonresponsive, obtrusive, offensive, passive, pensive, permissive, persuasive, pervasive, reclusive, reflexive, repulsive, responsive, submissive, subversive, unobtrusive, unresponsive. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-e-e-i-o-s-s-s-v" | |
-2 letters: bossies. | |
-3 letters: bevies, bosses, obsess, seises, sieves. | |
-4 letters: bises, esses, obese, seise, sieve, sises, vibes, vises. | |
-5 letters: bees, bios, bise, boss, eses, eves, obes, obis, oses, sees, seis, sibs, sobs, vees, vibe, vies, vise, voes. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-e-e-i-o-s-s-s-v" | |
+1 letter: obsessives. | |
+2 letters: obsessively. | |
+4 letters: obsessiveness, obtrusiveness, obviousnesses. | |
+5 letters: abortivenesses, oversubscribes, violablenesses, voidablenesses. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)4F 62 73 65 73 73 69 76 65 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)--- -... ... . ... ... .. ...- . |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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| Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "obsessive" |
