fixate

Thân thiện

Her eyes fixated on the distant lighthouse.

Definition

1. Verb (Intransitive):
   • To develop an obsessive or intense focus on a single idea, object, or person. The attention is often involuntary and unhealthy.
   • To direct one's gaze steadily and intently at something.
2. Verb (Transitive):
   • To cause (something) to become fixed, stable, or stationary.
   • To focus (one's eyes or attention) obsessively on something.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (Intransitive):
  • The patient tends to fixate on minor details and cannot see the bigger picture.
  • Her eyes fixated on the distant ship.
• Verb (Transitive):
  • The surgeon fixated the bone with a metal plate.
  • The media fixated public attention on the scandal for weeks.

Advanced Usage

• Psychological Context: In psychoanalytic theory, to fixate means to become arrested in an early stage of psychosexual development, where libido remains invested in that stage.
  • The theory suggests he fixated at the oral stage, leading to certain personality traits.
• "Fixate on/upon": This is the most common construction, used to indicate the target of the obsessive focus.
  • It's unhealthy to fixate upon past mistakes.

Variants and Related Words

• Fixation (n): The act or state of being fixated; an obsessive interest or focus.
  • He has a fixation with cleanliness.
• Fixed (adj): Securely placed or fastened; stationary.
• Fix (v): To make firm, stable, or repair. (Note: "Fix" is a broader, more common verb, while "fixate" specifically implies an intense, often psychological, focus.)

Synonyms

• Obsess (over): To preoccupy or fill the mind continually.
• Focus (on): To concentrate attention or effort. (Less intense than "fixate").
• Dwell (on): To think, speak, or write at length about something.
• Fasten: To attach firmly. (For the transitive meaning of making something stable).

Related Phrasal Verbs / Constructions

• Fixate on/upon: To focus on something obsessively.
  • The debate should not fixate on a single issue.

Related Idioms

• To have a fixation on: To possess an obsessive interest in something.
  • She has a fixation on becoming famous.

Học thuật

Verb

1. become fixed (on)
   • Her eyes fixated on a point on the horizon
2. make fixed, stable or stationary
   • let's fix the picture to the frame
3. pay attention to exclusively and obsessively
   • The media are fixating on Princess Diana's death
4. attach (oneself) to a person or thing in a neurotic way
   • He fixates on his mother, even at the age of 40

Từ đồng nghĩa

• settle on
• fix