Obsesses

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To engage in a compulsive and overpowering fixation that continually occupies one’s mind regarding a specific person or idea
2. To be drawn into an unyielding and excessive focus that inhibits one's ability to think of anything else related to a particular subject or individual
3. To become consumed by an all-encompassing and irrational preoccupation that limits one's thoughts to a particular topic or person

Etymology: "Obsesses" is the third-person singular form of "obsess," so the story belongs to the verb itself. The root sense is physical: Latin "obsideō" meant to sit on or in something, to remain in a place, or to besiege a town. Its prefix "ob-" means "before" or "against," and the core verb "sedeō" means "to sit," the same ancestor behind English "session" and "sedentary." A besieging army was, in effect, a force sitting down in front of a city and refusing to leave. From that siege sense came the idea of a presence that settles stubbornly into a person's mind and will not be dislodged. The English verb keeps that pressure. To obsess someone is to sit on their thoughts the way an army sits on a walled town, with no exit in view. The Latin family also produced "possess" and "assess," which share the same "sit" core and the same sense of something settling firmly onto or into a thing.

Synonyms: preoccupies, haunts, consumes

Antonyms: neglects, disregards