possessive

The definition of possessive is being unwilling to share and wanting everything for yourself or demanding all of a person's time, love and attention.

(adjective)

  1. An example of possessive is a child who grabs all the toys and won't share them.
  2. An example of possessive is a jealous spouse who doesn't ever want you to go out or do anything without him.

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See possessive in Webster's New World College Dictionary

adjective

  1. of possession, or ownership
    1. showing, or characterized by a desire for, possession: a possessive child
    2. having or showing a desire to dominate, control, influence, etc.: a possessive mother
  2. Gram. designating or of a case, form, or construction expressing possession or some like relationship: in English, this is expressed a) by the addition of a final s (for nouns and some pronouns) preceded or followed by an apostrophe, or sometimes by the addition of an apostrophe only after a final (s) sound (Ex.: John's book, women's lives, boys' games, conscience' sake) b) by a change of form in pronouns (Ex.: I, my, mine; you, your, yours; it, its; who, whose) c) by of preceding a form without the possessive ending (Ex.: lives of men) or preceding a form in the possessive case (Ex.: a play of Shakespeare's, a friend of mine — called a )

Origin: L possessivus

noun

  1. the possessive case
  2. a word or phrase in this case

Related Forms:

See possessive in American Heritage Dictionary 4

adjective
  1. Of or relating to ownership or possession.
  2. Having or manifesting a desire to control or dominate another, especially in order to limit that person's relationships with others: a possessive parent.
  3. Grammar Of, relating to, or being a noun or pronoun case that indicates possession.
noun
Grammar
  1. The possessive case.
  2. A possessive form or construction.

Related Forms:

  • pos·sesˈsive·ly adverb
  • pos·sesˈsive·ness noun

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