as in obsessive
extremely or overly neat, careful, or precise
I've always been anal about arranging my books alphabetically by author.
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Recent Examples of anal
His portrayal of the anal West Philadelphia public school teacher earned him three Emmy nominations and one Golden Globe Award.
—
Brande Victorian, HollywoodReporter, 13 Nov. 2025
Some types, especially urethritis, can arise due to gonorrhea and chlamydia, which spread through vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
—Mark Gurarie, Health, 13 Sep. 2025
Sitz Baths Soak your anal area by sitting in a shallow bath of plain warm water for 10 to 15 minutes, two or three times a day.
—Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 5 Sep. 2025
That means STIs can also cause throat, genital and anal infections.
—Jill Grimes, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for anal
Brande Victorian, HollywoodReporter, 13 Nov. 2025
Some types, especially urethritis, can arise due to gonorrhea and chlamydia, which spread through vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
—Mark Gurarie, Health, 13 Sep. 2025
Sitz Baths Soak your anal area by sitting in a shallow bath of plain warm water for 10 to 15 minutes, two or three times a day.
—Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 5 Sep. 2025
That means STIs can also cause throat, genital and anal infections.
—Jill Grimes, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for anal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for anal
Adjective
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March 2026 Prose's debut novel is centered around Molly Gray, a 25-year-old maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, a five-star boutique hotel, who has an obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette.—
Angeline Jane Bernabe,
ABC News,
3 Mar. 2026
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Hjorth’s protagonists also turn that obsessive attention outward—to try to understand others.—
Honor Jones,
The Atlantic,
3 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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What is that key meant to represent, and why was Mycroft so adamant about Sherlock literally and figuratively closing that book and moving on with his life?—
Max Gao,
Variety,
5 Mar. 2026
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Getting everyone on board As the legislative committee develops initiatives to help cut down red tape, Wicks is adamant that new state regulations are just one piece of the puzzle that municipalities must also solve.—
Amancai Biraben,
Daily News,
4 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Such improvements are crucial for devices like drones that operate with strict limitations on computing power and battery capacity, according to a press release.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Mar. 2026
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Wife killed in February airstrikes Mojtaba Khamenei was a particular target for criticism by protesters during unrest over the death of a young woman in police custody in 2022, after she was arrested for allegedly breaching the Islamic Republic's strict dress codes.—
James Powel,
USA Today,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Anal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anal. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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