obsession

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun an irrational motive for performing trivial or repetitive actions, even against your will
noun an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone

From Latin obsessio (“a besieging”), from obsidere (“to besiege”); see obsess. Equivalent to obsess + -ion.

The thing became an obsession. — The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol, William John Locke
The invisible inexorable, what an obsession! — Les Misérables, Victor Hugo
His Anglophobia was a perfect obsession. — That Which Hath Wings: A Novel of the Day, Richard Dehan

compulsion

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