Past tense of possess
regular verb
The past tense of possess is possessed. The past participle is also possessed.
Forms of possess
| Base form (V1) | possess /pəˈzɛs/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | possessed /pəˈzɛst/ |
| Past participle (V3) | possessed /pəˈzɛst/ |
| Present participle | possessing |
| Third person singular | possesses /pəˈzɛsɪz/ |
Possessed in a sentence
- Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, London: The Bodley Head, →OCLC
- A horrid mistrust of the whole house possessed me.1919, Joseph Conrad, chapter VII, in The Arrow of Gold: A Story between Two Notes, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, […], →OCLC, part V, page...
- He was exorcised because he was thought to be possessed by the Devil.From the entry possessed
- The president was possessed of great wealth.From the entry possessed
- Having lived in both countries, she possessed a multiworld perspective.From the entry multiworld
Meaning of possess
- verb To have (something) as, or as if as, an owner; to have, to own.
- verb Of an idea, thought, etc.: to dominate (someone's mind); to strongly influence.
- verb Of a supernatural entity, especially one regarded as evil: to take control of (an animal or person's body or mind).
Questions about the past tense of possess
- What is the past tense of possess?
- The past tense of possess is possessed.
- What is the past participle of possess?
- The past participle of possess is possessed.
- Is possess a regular or irregular verb?
- Possess is a regular verb: its past tense adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: possess (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of possess.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/possess. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.