as in wrongheadedness
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for anal-retentiveness
Noun
-
That wrongheadedness of hip-hop media’s mindset bears fruit in the endless loop of misinformation.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
19 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
For me, there’s always the perversity of getting on a trendy bandwagon and just liking it for the irony.—
Marc Malkin,
Variety,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Here, Henkel leans into the inherent perversity that lingered in the sequels but has rarely been effectively employed since Hooper’s original.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
But this outcome is more the product of Putin’s intransigence than European diplomacy.—
Matthias Matthijs,
Foreign Affairs,
12 Dec. 2025
-
John Hardie, the deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Russia Program, told Fox News Digital Moscow's intransigence over the past 10 months has been the main obstacle to Trump’s diplomatic efforts.—
Ashley Carnahan,
FOXNews.com,
25 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
These issues aren’t about stubbornness—they’re about confusion and fear of losing control.—
Lauryn Higgins,
Flow Space,
5 Nov. 2025
-
The contrast between these quick results and the stubbornness of the Nopert holdouts made some mathematicians suspect that true Noperts do exist.—
Erica Klarreich,
Quanta Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
China has gained, not suffered, from this obduracy.—
JONATHAN A. CZIN,
Foreign Affairs,
25 Nov. 2025
-
Related: ‘Neglected diseases’ are anything but neglected by the billion-plus people living with them One possible reason for this obduracy is that noma begins as a dental disease, and dental diseases have long been underappreciated global health concerns.—
John Button,
STAT,
16 Dec. 2023
Noun
-
The White House does not seem to have a workaround to Putin’s obstinacy, and Rubio told Hannity that all other parties seeking to end the conflict are hopeless.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
3 Dec. 2025
-
The gaps between Kyiv and Moscow remain too explicit, and their reasons for obstinacy too drenched in sacrifice, anxiety and blood.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
28 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Yet even Smith’s dismissal doesn’t lead to the quick finale most are expecting, with Brydon Carse and Will Jacks showing the doggedness and determination that England have lacked so often in the series.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
21 Dec. 2025
-
Netflix's latest crime drama is resonant and relentless, offering audiences a sweaty, anxious look at doggedness and sacrifice in the face of a cruel, indifferent economy.—
Allison DeGrushe Published,
EW.com,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
And many folks thought that that was a type of dogmatism and inflexibility that was not productive.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
5 Jan. 2026
-
But there is also such a thing as being too good, where your own purity takes precedence over all else, leading to inflexibility and inaction.—
Shadi Hamid,
Time,
3 Nov. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Anal-retentiveness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anal-retentiveness. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share