possessed

1. participlepastsimple past and past participle of possess

comparative more possessed · superlative most possessed

1. Controlled by evil spirits.

   He was exorcised because he was thought to be possessed by the Devil.

   1 more example

   Three days remained till Beltane's E'en, and throughout this time it was noted that Heriotside behaved like one possessed. It may be that his conscience pricked him, or that he had a glimpse of his sin and its coming punishment.

   1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

2. Seized by powerful emotions.

   O what ridiculous Reſolutions Men take, when poſſeſs'd with Fear! It deprives them of the Uſe of thoſe Means which Reaſon offers for their Relief.

   1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 188

3. not comparableHaving; owning.

   The president was possessed of great wealth.

   1 more example

   It is said that every life has its roses and thorns; there seemed, however, to have been a misadventure or mistake in Stephen's case, whereby somebody else had become possessed of his roses, and he had become possessed of the same somebody else's thorns in addition to his own.

   1854, Charles Dickens, “Stephen Blackpool”, in Hard Times. For These Times, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC, 1st book (Sowing), page 75