obsess

/əbˈses/ (bre, ipa) · /əbˈses/ (ame, ipa) · /əb-ˈses äb-/ (ame, mw)

obsess — verb

1. to take up so much of someone's thoughts that they cannot focus on anything else

1.動詞及物 / 不及物C1
釋義

to take up so much of someone's thoughts that they cannot focus on anything else, often to an unhealthy or unreasonable degree — for example, when a teenager keeps replaying a single argument with a friend, or a writer cannot stop checking sales numbers for her new book.

例句

Maya is obsessed with her new puppy and talks about him at every meal.

passive: be obsessed with [noun]

The thought of failing the driving test obsessed Carlos for weeks.

transitive: [thing] obsesses [person]

同義詞
  • preoccupy

    more neutral; can describe ordinary worries, not just unhealthy fixation.

  • consume

    stronger and often used of emotions like jealousy or grief that take over a life.

  • fixate on

    phrasal verb; suggests narrowing attention onto one detail, often unreasonably.

反義詞
  • ignore

    the opposite action: paying no attention rather than too much.

  • dismiss

    to push something out of mind quickly, the reverse of dwelling on it.

文法句型

be obsessed with [something/someone]

obsess about/over + noun phrase

[something] obsesses [someone]

用法筆記

Most often appears in the passive 'be/get obsessed with'. The active intransitive form takes 'about' or 'over' (never a bare object: not 'obsess the test'). The active transitive form needs an inanimate or abstract subject doing the obsessing to a person.

常見錯誤

❌I obsess my homework every night.
✅I obsess about my homework every night.
💡the intransitive use needs 'about' or 'over' before the topic.
❌She is obsessing with the new movie.
✅She is obsessed with the new movie.
💡the passive form 'be obsessed with' is far more common than the progressive active.