possessiveness

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“I had written a book on writing once …” How did professional jealousy, competitiveness, possessiveness, or, on the brighter side, tenderness, collaborative spirit and generosity play out as you wrote a writing book together?

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026

Yearning, possessiveness, jealousy, deception, self-torture, the impossibility of truly knowing another person — these turn out to be the unhappy and recurrent elements of Proustian love.

From Washington Post • Nov. 3, 2022

In contrast to the spirit of cooperation required for a successful recovery effort, Collar wrote in 1992, “ownership is a matter of jealousy, prestige and possessiveness that is fundamentally different in psychological origin.”

From Science Magazine • Jun. 8, 2022

I felt my loose connection to Great-Great-Uncle Monty shift into possessiveness: Who were these people writing about what I felt, unjustly, to be my story?

From New York Times • Oct. 31, 2021

As they walked on, his hand remained on her elbow with a new possessiveness.

From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare