fixate
pronunciation
How to pronounce fixate in British English: UK ['fɪkseɪt]
How to pronounce fixate in American English: US [ˈfɪkˌset]
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- Verb:
- attach (oneself) to a person or thing in a neurotic way
- pay attention to exclusively and obsessively
- make fixed, stable or stationary
- become fixed (on)
Word Origin
- fixate (v.)
- 1885, "to fix, make stable," from fix (v.) + -ate. Meaning "to gaze upon" is from 1889. Psychological sense is from 1926, originally in Freudian theory, in this case perhaps a back-formation from fixation. Meaning "become fixed" is from 1888. Related: Fixated; fixating.
Example
- 1. I 'd rather get them to fixate on that something that could give them a career .
- 2. In more severe cases , they might fixate on different objects or ideas or display repetitive motions like rocking or hand flapping .
- 3. " It 's not that I don 't feel pain ; I do , " she says . " I just probably don 't interpret it in a negative way and fixate on it . "
- 4. One is 1979 , when margaret thatcher ousted labour after the winter of discontent ; the other , which they fixate on in private , is 1997 , when tony blair 's new model labour party won its first landslide .
- 5. They fixate on every piece , from the cord to the bulb .