# obsess

Pronunciation: US say "uhb-SES" /əbˈsɛs/; UK

## Verb

1. To be completely preoccupied with a single topic or emotion, returning to it again and again.
   - Simple: To think about one thing so much that little else gets your attention.
   - _Many new parents obsess about every small sound their baby makes._
   - _He had become obsessed with finding the perfect answer._
2. To think or talk about something again and again, far more than seems reasonable. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To keep thinking or talking about something far more than is normal.
   - _Sports fans obsess over trade rumors all summer long._
   - _She has been obsessing about the interview since Monday._
3. To take over and dominate the thoughts of a person, leaving room for little else.
   - Simple: To fill someone's mind so much that they can think of little else.
   - _Revenge obsessed the old sailor until his final days._
   - _A single failure can obsess an ambitious mind for years._

## Origin

From Latin obsessus, the perfect passive participle of obsideō ("to sit on or in, remain, besiege"), which comes from ob ("before") plus sedeō ("I sit"); it is related to words like session, assess, and possess.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/obsess (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).