as in stubborn
extremely or overly neat, careful, or precise
My anal-retentive brother keeps records of everything that happens in his life.
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Recent Examples of anal-retentive
But there would be no grease-drinking, Judas-playing Sandy without his anal-retentive best friend, Reuben Feffer.
—
Sean Malin, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024
Conventional management practices suppress everything that isn’t vine by mowing, tilling, and spraying herbicide with an intensity that ranges from anal-retentive to paranoid.
—Kevin West, Travel + Leisure, 24 July 2024
One might be forgiven for also thinking that the identification is not so much between the audience and the killer as between Fincher, who is known as something of a filmmaking fusspot, and his anal-retentive central character.
—Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 25 Oct. 2023
Sean Malin, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024
Conventional management practices suppress everything that isn’t vine by mowing, tilling, and spraying herbicide with an intensity that ranges from anal-retentive to paranoid.
—Kevin West, Travel + Leisure, 24 July 2024
One might be forgiven for also thinking that the identification is not so much between the audience and the killer as between Fincher, who is known as something of a filmmaking fusspot, and his anal-retentive central character.
—Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 25 Oct. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for anal-retentive
Adjective
-
Across the Rockies and beyond, many of our favorite mountains were haunted by unseasonably warm spikes and stubborn weather patterns that shut out snow for weeks on end.—
Kristen Geil,
Outside,
31 Mar. 2026
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For stubborn blockages, a plumber’s snake can help break things loose.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
This coming-of-age comedy follows the exploits of 15-year-old Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), who deals with the emotional fallout of her father’s death while juggling school, a complicated relationship with her mother, and an obsessive crush on a classmate.—
Andrew Walsh,
Entertainment Weekly,
5 Apr. 2026
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And obsessive thinking can obscure your ability to see the big picture.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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His parents ran a rowdy daycare out of their home an hour north of Denver, and Caldwell looks back at his dogged digging as an early attempt to find the kind of peace and clarity his mind has always naturally craved.—
Namir Khaliq,
Big Think,
31 Mar. 2026
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The Wolves will miss his shot creation on offense nearly as much as his dogged perimeter defense.—
Jon Krawczynski,
New York Times,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Minnesota also implemented stricter regulations around those products because of the federal prohibition, such as where consumers can buy them.—
Caroline Cummings,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
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The design process took more than five years, a negotiation between the city’s strict hydraulic requirements and the neighborhood’s shifting wishes; the result was something no one had pictured in advance.—
Eric Klinenberg,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Warsh has been adamant about wanting to ease monetary policy.—
Morgan Chittum,
CNBC,
3 Apr. 2026
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But Dugalić was adamant on a normal-length college career.—
Sabreena Merchant,
New York Times,
30 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Anal-retentive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anal-retentive. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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