Yahoo Web Search

Search results

1. Dictionary

   com·pul·sive

   /kəmˈpəlsiv/

   adjective

   • 1. resulting from or relating to an irresistible urge, especially one that is against one's conscious wishes: "compulsive eating" Similar irresistibleuncontrollablecompellingdrivingoverwhelmingoverpoweringurgentbesettingobsessiveneuroticobsessiveobsessionaladdictiveuncontrollableout of controlungovernable
   • ▪ (of a person) acting as a result of an irresistible urge: "a compulsive liar" Similar inveteratechronicincorrigibleincurableirredeemablehardenedhopelesspersistentobsessiveobsessionaladdictedhabitualdependentinformal:pathologicalhookedOpposite occasional
   • 2. irresistibly interesting or exciting; compelling: "this play is compulsive viewing" Similar fascinatingcompellinggrippingrivetingengrossingtotally absorbingenthrallingcaptivatingspellbindingmesmerizingmesmericentrancinginformal:unputdownableOpposite dulltedious

   Word Origin late 16th century (in the sense ‘compulsory’): from medieval Latin compulsivus, from compuls- ‘driven, forced’, from the verb compellere (see compel). compulsive (sense 1) (originally a term in psychology) dates from the early 20th century.

   Derivatives

   • 1. compulsiveness noun

   Scrabble Points: 19

   • C

     3

   • O

     1

   • M

     3

   • P

     3

   • U

     1

   • L

     1

   • S

     1

   • I

     1

   • V

     4

   • E

     1

   Powered by Oxford Dictionaries

   More definitions, origin and scrabble points