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
-
That individual brilliance which can produce a moment of magic to break open a stubborn defence is harder to come by.—
Liam Tharme,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Be sure to pay extra attention to stubborn stains.—
Jennifer Beck Goldblatt,
Architectural Digest,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
In 2020, during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, many people had a deeply emotional, intensely personal, and perhaps somewhat obsessive relationship with a macroscope.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
27 Oct. 2025
-
Including this gossipy memoir for the truly obsessive aesthetes.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
And in a recent piece for Foreign Affairs, drawing on a new book co-authored with Hussein Agha, Malley argues that the cause of that disappointment is Washington’s dogged insistence on a two-state solution that neither Israelis nor Palestinians really want.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
23 Oct. 2025
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Her dogged efforts to get every manuscript into print succeeded, and Wade makes the best of a musty publishing saga.—
Judith Thurman,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Many residents favor stricter enforcement of immigration rules but have qualms about the current process.—
Tyler Kingkade,
NBC news,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Ben Mead, managing director of Hohenstein Americas, the largest provider of testing for Oeko-Tex, says some limitations are so strict that even contamination on the machinery from previous runs can show up in testing.—
Sophie Benson,
Vogue,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
When asked about his name being mentioned as this season’s coaching carnage continues, Danielson — a native of Southern California and graduate of Azusa Pacific University east of Los Angeles — remained adamant in his commitment to Boise State.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
30 Oct. 2025
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But Díaz-Balart, who sits on the House appropriations committee that helps draft spending bills, insists Republicans won’t cave to demands and is adamant short-term extensions are not the solution.—
Claire Heddles,
Miami Herald,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Anal-retentive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anal-retentive. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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