possessed

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pəˈzɛst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛst
• Hyphenation: pos‧sessed

Verb

possessed

1. simple past and past participle of possess

Adjective

possessed (comparative more possessed, superlative most possessed)

1. controlled by evil spirits.

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

2. Seized by powerful emotions.
   • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe:

     Oh, what ridiculous resolutions men take when possessed with fear!

3. (construed with of, not comparable) Having; owning.

   The president was possessed of great wealth.

   • 1854, Dickens, Hard Times:

     'Girl number twenty unable to define a horse!' said Mr Gradgrind, for the general behoof of all the little pitchers. 'Girl number twenty possessed of no facts, in reference to one of the commonest of animals!'

Derived terms

• self-possessed

Translations

controlled by evil spirits

• Catalan: esperitat, endimoniat (ca)
• Dutch: bezeten (nl)
• Finnish: riivattu
• French: possédé (fr)
• German: besessen (de)
• Gothic: 𐍅𐍉𐌳𐍃 (wōds)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐνθουσιώδης (enthousiṓdēs)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Luxembourgish: besiess
• Portuguese: possuído (pt)
• Spanish: poseído (es)
• Swedish: besatt (sv) n
• Tagalog: sinaniban

owning something

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}