Obsession \Ob*ses"sion\, n. [L. obsessio: cf. F. obsession.]
1. The act of besieging. [archaic] --Johnson.
[1913 Webster]
2. The state of being besieged; -- used specifically of a
person beset by a spirit from without. [archaic] --Tylor.
[1913 Webster]
Whether by obsession or possession, I will not
determine. --Burton.
[1913 Webster]
3. An excessive preoccupation of the thoughts or feelings;
the persistent haunting or domination of the mind by a
particular desire, idea, or image.
[PJC]
4. 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
[PJC]
5. Something that causes an obsession[3].
[PJC]
6. The state of being obsessed.
[PJC] obsessional
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
obsession
n 1: an irrational motive for performing trivial or repetitive
actions against your will [syn: compulsion]
2: an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or
someone [syn: fixation]
WordNet (r) 2.0
81 Moby Thesaurus words for "obsession":
absorbed attention, absorption, abstraction, abulia, alienation,
anxiety, anxiety equivalent, anxiety state, apathy, application,
bedevilment, bewitchery, bewitchment, captivation,
catatonic stupor, complex, compulsion, concentration,
contemplation, conviction, deep study, deep thought, dejection,
depression, detachment, elation, emotionalism, enchantment,
engagement, engrossment, entrancement, euphoria, fascination,
fixation, fixed idea, folie du doute, hang-up, hypercathexis,
hypochondria, hysteria, hysterics, idee fixe, illusion, immersion,
indifference, insensibility, intentness, involvement,
irresistible impulse, lethargy, mania, maya, meditation,
melancholia, mental distress, monomania, morbid drive,
obsessive compulsion, passion, pathological indecisiveness, phobia,
possession, preoccupation, prepossession, profound thought,
psychalgia, psychomotor disturbance, rapt attention,
ruling passion, single-mindedness, spirit control, studiousness,
study, stupor, submersion, thing, tic, twitching, unresponsiveness,
witchery, withdrawal
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
compulsion, fixation
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