Meanings
verbfixate (third-person singular simple present fixates, present participle fixating, simple past and past participle fixated)
present singular third person fixates · participle present fixating · participle past fixated · past fixated
- To stare fixedly at something.
- intransitiveTo attend to something to the exclusion of all others.
He needed something to fixate on now that the repainting was done.
2020, Akwaeke Emezi, The Death of Vivek Oji, Faber & Faber Ltd, page 202 - intransitivehuman sciencesTo attach oneself to a person or thing in a pathological, neurotic, or obsessive manner.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From fix + -ate (verb-forming suffix) or Latin fixus (“fixed, solid”) + -ate.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian закрепвам, фиксирам
- закрепвам (zakrepvam)to make something fixed and stable; to fix
- фиксирам (fiksiram)to stare fixedly at something
- спирам се на (spiram se na)to attend to something to the exclusion of others
Catalan fixar
- fixarto make something fixed and stable; to fix
Chinese Mandarin 固定, 使穩定 /使稳定
- 固定 (gùdìng)to make something fixed and stable; to fix
- 使穩定 /使稳定 (shǐ wěndìng)to make something fixed and stable; to fix
- 確立 /确立 (quèlì)to make something fixed and stable; to fix
- 凝視 /凝视 (níngshì)to stare fixedly at something
- 注視 /注视 (zhùshì)to stare fixedly at something
- 專注於 /专注于 (zhuānzhù yú)to attend to something to the exclusion of others
- 全神貫注 /全神贯注 (quánshénguànzhù)to attend to something to the exclusion of others
- 專心致志 /专心致志 (zhuānxīnzhìzhì)to attend to something to the exclusion of others
- 執著 /执著 (zhízhuó)psychology: to attach oneself to a person or thing in a pathological, neurotic, or obsessive manner
- 痴迷 (chīmí)psychology: to attach oneself to a person or thing in a pathological, neurotic, or obsessive manner
Finnish fikseerata, kiinnittää
- fikseeratato make something fixed and stable; to fix
- kiinnittääto make something fixed and stable; to fix
- kiinnittää katseensato stare fixedly at something
- fiksoituato attend to something to the exclusion of others
- keskittyäto attend to something to the exclusion of others
- fiksoituapsychology: to attach oneself to a person or thing in a pathological, neurotic, or obsessive manner
- takertuapsychology: to attach oneself to a person or thing in a pathological, neurotic, or obsessive manner
German fixieren, festmachen
- fixierento make something fixed and stable; to fix
- festmachento make something fixed and stable; to fix
- befestigento make something fixed and stable; to fix
- fixierento stare fixedly at something
- seinen Blick heften aufto stare fixedly at something
- seine volle Aufmerksamkeit schenkento attend to something to the exclusion of others
- sich vollständig konzentrierento attend to something to the exclusion of others
- sich fixierenpsychology: to attach oneself to a person or thing in a pathological, neurotic, or obsessive manner
Māori koromaki
- koromakito attend to something to the exclusion of others
Romanian fixa, fixa
- fixato make something fixed and stable; to fix
- fixato stare fixedly at something
Russian укрепля́ть, укрепи́ть
- укрепля́ть (ukrepljátʹ)to make something fixed and stable; to fix
- укрепи́ть (ukrepítʹ)to make something fixed and stable; to fix
- закрепля́ть (zakrepljátʹ)to make something fixed and stable; to fix
- закрепи́ть (zakrepítʹ)to make something fixed and stable; to fix
- фикси́ровать (fiksírovatʹ)to make something fixed and stable; to fix
- зафикси́ровать (zafiksírovatʹ)to make something fixed and stable; to fix
- заци́кливаться (zacíklivatʹsja)psychology: to attach oneself to a person or thing in a pathological, neurotic, or obsessive manner
- заци́клиться (zacíklitʹsja)psychology: to attach oneself to a person or thing in a pathological, neurotic, or obsessive manner
- запада́ть (zapadátʹ)psychology: to attach oneself to a person or thing in a pathological, neurotic, or obsessive manner
- запа́сть (zapástʹ)psychology: to attach oneself to a person or thing in a pathological, neurotic, or obsessive manner
Spanish fijar, encasquetársele (a)
- fijarto make something fixed and stable; to fix
- encasquetársele (a)to attend to something to the exclusion of others
- afanar (por/en)to attend to something to the exclusion of others
- afanarse (por/en)to attend to something to the exclusion of others
- estar topado (por/con)to attend to something to the exclusion of others
- tener una fijación (con/por)to attend to something to the exclusion of others
Swedish fixera, fokusera
- fixerato make something fixed and stable; to fix
- fokuserato attend to something to the exclusion of others
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with fixate
datestategreatratecreateupdateweightlatecertificatewaiteightstraightplatechocolatedebatehategatedonateevaluatelocatekatealternatetranslatemate
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
fixate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fixate
MLA
“fixate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fixate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fixate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fixate.
Source: fixate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.