compulsive

compulsive /kəmˈpʌlsɪv /
▸ adjective 1 resulting from or relating to an irresistible urge: compulsive eating. ▫ (of a person) acting as a result of an irresistible urge: a compulsive liar.

2 irresistibly interesting or exciting; compelling: this play is compulsive viewing.

– DERIVATIVES compulsiveness noun.
– ORIGIN late 16th century (in the sense ‘compulsory’): from medieval Latin compulsivus, from compuls- ‘driven, forced’, from the verb compellere (see compel). compulsive (sense 1 of the adjective) (originally a term in psychology) dates from the early 20th century.