How to Use obsessive in a Sentence

obsessive

adjective
  • Many dancers are obsessive about their weight.
  • He is an obsessive workaholic who never stops thinking about his job.
  • The new therapy is supposed to help people control their obsessive thoughts.
  • Still, Skaife is obsessive in his care of the birds, who are now celebrities, regardless of the misty myths.
    — William Booth, The Seattle Times, 26 Oct. 2018
  • Content to me starts with an obsessive focus on the users.
    — Aashish Chopra, Quartz India, 10 Oct. 2019
  • One way is to foreground your obsessive commitment to the role—but even that can strike a false note.
    — Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024
  • Some might even call their love for these places obsessive, or at least that's what one dog proved in a viral video.
    — Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 7 Nov. 2024
  • Pawlowski urges parents not to be obsessive about where the items go.
    — Jolie Kerr, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2020
  • And then, there were the obsessive, protective fans known as Swifties.
    — New York Times, 24 Nov. 2019
  • The ultramarathon is home to the gutsy eccentric; the marathon is home to the Type-A obsessive.
    — New York Times, 11 Feb. 2020
  • An obsessive protector of rock’s past could hold the key to its future.
    — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 9 June 2022
  • Then there’s the most frequent object of obsessive news stress: polls.
    — Arianna Huffington, TIME, 21 Oct. 2024
  • At the close of the first video, Tyla speeds off into the night after a long day of being trailed in her car by an obsessive ex.
    — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2024
  • These kids are as obsessive and quirky as a top-level athlete.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 16 Sep. 2018
  • Don’t belabor your point No one likes a boor or an obsessive, so don’t be one.
    — Dwight Silverman, San Antonio Express-News, 3 July 2018
  • By extension, the same thing goes for OnePlus: the two brands are both obsessive in their pursuit of speed.
    — Vlad Savov, The Verge, 11 Dec. 2018
  • The company has an obsessive dedication to its craft, down to the food the dairy cows eat.
    — Sarah Blaskovich, Dallas News, 29 Dec. 2020
  • The best way to understand the cult following of David Berman would be to talk to one of his obsessive fans, which is to say — talk to any one of his fans.
    — David Malitz, Washington Post, 8 Aug. 2019
  • Most of it was chalked up to being a first-time head coach who can be obsessive about every detail.
    — J. Michael, The Indianapolis Star, 6 May 2021
  • For an obsessive boot collector, what is the Holy Grail?
    — Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, 31 Oct. 2018
  • The rules are typical for these trying times, but the number of signs is obsessive.
    — Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 10 Nov. 2020
  • The rules were typical for these trying times, but the number of signs was obsessive.
    — Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2020
  • Keep in mind that this is a game that’s designed around these kinds of obsessive replay sessions.
    — Nick Statt, The Verge, 29 June 2019
  • But the mood in this, his ninth feature, is for the most part affectionate rather than obsessive.
    — New York Times, 24 July 2019
  • The 1% have a strong sense of self and an obsessive focus on purpose combined with results.
    — Paul Prior, Forbes, 12 Nov. 2021
  • More than a few were obsessive Zappa fans who hoped to gain access to his fabled vaults.
    — David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Nov. 2020
  • But Streever, who is also an obsessive diver and lives on a boat, drills down to the human scale, too.
    — Heather Hansman, Outside Online, 19 July 2019
  • There is the obsessive search for a vessel, a form that will hold a filmic/poetic future, in all of Graham’s work.
    — Carol Muske-Dukes, Washington Post, 2 Sep. 2023
  • During the first six weeks of his captivity, Shoham was racked with obsessive thoughts about their fate.
    — Matt Gutman, ABC News, 17 Mar. 2025
  • Addiction and obsessive behavior are other targets of microdosers, as the drugs seem to tame cravings for more than just food.
    — Beth Landman, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'obsessive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: