Compulsivity

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A psychological trait involving an overwhelming need to engage in certain repetitive behaviors or thoughts that cannot be easily controlled
2. A condition where individuals experience an incessant drive to act in ways that are often irrational or excessive, often despite negative outcomes
3. The quality of having an uncontrollable impulse to carry out repeated behaviors or mental acts

Etymology: "Compulsivity" is simply "compulsive" with the suffix "-ity" added, the same ending that turns "active" into "activity" or "sensitive" into "sensitivity". "Compulsive" comes from the Latin "compellere," meaning "to drive together" or "to force," built from "com-" (together) and "pellere" (to drive). The word's root is therefore about being forced or driven, which is the sense that survives in the idea of an urge a person feels pushed to act on. The "-ity" suffix comes from Latin "-itas" through Old French, and it turns an adjective into a noun naming the quality or state described. So "compulsivity" names the quality of being compulsive, or a tendency toward compulsive behaviour, rather than any single compulsion.

Synonyms: compulsion, obsession, impulsivity, drivenness, fixation

Antonyms: freedom, liberty, spontaneity, nonchalance, carelessness