live rent-free in someone's head

present singular third person lives rent-free in someone's head · participle present living rent-free in someone's head · participle past lived rent-free in someone's head · past lived rent-free in someone's head · alternative live rent free in someone's head

1. USidiomaticinformalTo be the perpetual focus of someone's thoughts, with that person having no control over this situation.

   Gem of the Day: Hanging onto resentment is letting someone you despise live rent free in your head.

   1990 March 8, Ann Landers [Eppie Lederer], “Breast cancer is in her family”, in Daily American, volume 62, number 210, Somerset, Pa., page 12

   2 more examples

   The difficult bosses then get under their skin and live “rent-free” in their heads long after they've left work and gone home to sleep.

   2010, Jennifer C. Hunt, Seven Shots: An NYPD Raid on a Terrorist Cell and Its Aftermath, page 32

   It may not seem that way, but this is a testament to Hillary's ability to successfully make such a mark on her opposition that she lives rent-free in their heads for decades.

   2015, Joanne Bamberger, Love Her, Love Her Not: The Hillary Paradox

   Synonyms: live rent-free in someone's mind