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
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For Baxter and the stubborn Scot, this marked, at last, the reality of war’s end.—
Charles Pellegrino,
Rolling Stone,
6 Aug. 2025
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Here’s the case for Scorpio: Wednesday is suss, secretive, brooding, vengeful and stubborn.—
Lisa Stardust,
People.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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In addition, actor Devon Sawa, who portrayed obsessive fan Stan in the original video for the 2000 song from his The Marshall Mathers LP also pulled up to the STANS lookalike contest in New York to meet some fellow Stans, pose with Slim Shady and help judge the contest.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
7 Aug. 2025
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And then, there are obsessive checking habits, with users often responding to measurement changes rather than bodily cues.—
Taylor Lane,
Flow Space,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Archer’s dogged determination to make Justine’s life hell hints at a metaphor for vigilante justice.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
8 Aug. 2025
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Nearly five years after newborn twin boys were discovered beaten to death in the trash behind a Bronx building, authorities have arrested the babies’ mother following a dogged, years-long search, police announced Friday.—
Kerry Burke,
New York Daily News,
25 July 2025
Adjective
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The widespread destruction triggered stricter building codes across the state.—
Susannah Bryan,
Sun Sentinel,
16 Aug. 2025
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In addition to broadening Opinel's appeal in jurisdictions with strict regulations on locking knives, the Opiflex mechanism is designed to streamline blade opening and closing for fast, intuitive knife use.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
16 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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However, Coast Guard officials were adamant that FEMA makes the ultimate decision, and that FEMA’s choices may differ from the Coast Guard’s recommendations.—
Joseph States,
Chicago Tribune,
30 July 2025
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However, she’s remained adamant that to pull off paying homage to the famed actress, everything must be done right.—
Angel Saunders,
People.com,
29 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Anal-retentive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anal-retentive. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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