Definition of obsession | Collins English Dictionary

obsession (əbˈsɛʃən)

psychiatry a persistent idea or impulse that continually forces its way into consciousness, often associated with anxiety and mental illness
a persistent preoccupation, idea, or feeling
the act of obsessing or the state of being obsessed

obˈsessional adjective obˈsessionally adverb

View thesaurus entry

= preoccupation, thing, complex, enthusiasm, addiction, hang-up, mania, phobia, fetish, fixation, infatuation, ruling passion pet subject hobbyhorse, idée fixe, bee in your bonnet

British English: obsession If you say that someone has an obsession with someone or something, you feel they are spending too much of their time thinking about that person or thing....his lifelong obsession with physical fitness.əbˈsɛʃən NOUN ...his lifelong obsession with physical fitness.
Spanish: obsesión nf
French: obsession nf
German: Besessenheit nf
Chinese: 着迷 n
Arabic: اسْتِحْوَاذُ n
Portuguese: obsessão nf
Russian: навязчивая идея nf
Croatian: opsesija nf
Czech: utkvělá myšlenka nf
Danish: besættelse nutr
Dutch: obsessie nf
Finnish: pakkomielle n
Greek: έμμονη ιδέα
Italian: ossessione nf
Japanese: 執着 n
Korean: 집념 n
Norwegian: besettelse nm
Polish: obsesja nf
Brazilian Portuguese: obsessão nf
European Spanish: obsesión nf
Swedish: besatthet nutr
Thai: การครอบงำจิตใจ n
Turkish: takıntı n
Vietnamese: sự ám ảnh n

Even his apparent obsession with my person might by some be considered not altogether reprehensible.
Anthony Masters, CASCADES - THE DAY OF THE DEAD (2001)
In fact my obsession with now completing the course led me to write the word FINISH above the bulkhead.
Yachting Boating World (2005)
His slick appearance is a comment on our obsession with celebrity.
Globe and Mail (2003)
THIS mindless obsession for Winnie the Pooh spans generations.
Glasgow Herald (2001)
It would be true to say that heaven was never a particular obsession of the Reformers.
Peter Stanford, HEAVEN: A Traveller's Guide to the Undiscovered Country (2002)