fixated
fixated Lexical Profile
fixated Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Having developed an abnormal, excessive, or obsessive attachment to or preoccupation with someone or something.
"The detective became completely fixated on solving the decades-old mystery."
In psychology, arrested at an early stage of psychosexual or emotional development due to an unresolved conflict or attachment.
"According to classic psychoanalytic theory, an individual who remains fixated at an early developmental stage may exhibit compulsive habits later in life."
Word Nuance & Usage
Most commonly used predicatively and followed by the preposition 'on' or 'upon' (e.g., 'fixated on a single detail').
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in the early 20th century as the participial adjective of 'fixate', originally popularized through English translations of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of fixation, ultimately from Latin 'fixus' (fastened, settled).