control freak

noun

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

Definition of control freak

: a person whose behavior indicates a powerful need to control people or circumstances in everyday matters

See control freak defined for English-language learners

Examples of control freak in a Sentence

My boss is a real control freak.

Recent Examples of control freak from the Web

By nature, many of these men are control freaks, often having to restrain themselves from coaching every bounce of the basketball.

— dan wolken, USA TODAY, "Final Four: Villanova plays beautiful basketball, but it's not as easy as it looks," 1 Apr. 2018
The sight of these woolly darlings trying to gobble as much grass as possible while moving instinctively away from whichever control freak canine happened to be badgering them was curiously enthralling.

— charles mcnulty, latimes.com, "In 'Doggie Hamlet,' a cast of canines, sheep and, yes, humans — ay, there's the rub," 5 Feb. 2018
Her father, a wealthy hedge-fund manager, is a control freak - forbidding her to date, limiting her college choices, screaming on the sidelines of the athletic field.

— susan glaser, cleveland.com, "New in young-adult fiction: authors tackle gun violence, sexual assault, domestic abuse," 25 Jan. 2018
That pressure is especially true in the world of college football, in which many coaches could be classified as control freaks.

— ann killion, San Francisco Chronicle, "Jeff Samardzija honors his Notre Dame football coach, Tyrone Willingham," 25 Jan. 2018
Saban is a control freak who places himself in charge of unpredictable teenagers.

— New York Times, "Why Nick Saban Is the Ultimate Masochist," 9 Jan. 2018
But at a reunion, Anna Camp's overachieving control freak suggests that her military dad can get her fellow singers a spot on a USO tour.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "'Pitch Perfect 3' movie review: Oh, shut up, already.," 22 Dec. 2017
There are many, many stories in the coaching world about what a control freak Schiano is.

— brian stultz, ajc, "Twitter explodes as news of Tennessee finalizing deal with Greg Schiano is reported," 26 Nov. 2017
Former team boss Ron Dennis was a legendary control freak who even forbade people hanging jackets on the backs of their office chairs in the gleaming white-and-glass McLaren Technology Center.

— jonathan m. gitlin, Ars Technica, "The McLaren Formula 1 team just hired the World’s Fastest Gamer," 22 Nov. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'control freak.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.