anal-retentive
adjective
anal-re·ten·tive
ˈā-nᵊl-ri-ˈten-tiv
variants
or anal retentive
psychoanalytic theory
: exhibiting or typifying personality traits (such as frugality and obstinacy) held to be psychological consequences of toilet training
Overextending psychic energy during the process of toilet training by holding back can result in fixating at the anal stage, creating an anal retentive personality as an adult. The anal retentive personality is characterized by the tendency to cope with conflicts later in life by demonstrating an extreme sense of cleanliness and orderliness, such as dusting furniture or waxing the car when troubled.—Bernardo J. Carducci
—often used in nontechnical contexts to describe someone as extremely or excessively neat, careful, or precise… is his father's clone—intense, focused, fuddy-duddy, severely anal-retentive, or as Archie puts it, "a neat freak."—Curry Kirkpatrick
anal retentive
noun
or anal-retentive
plural anal retentives or anal-retentives
Anal-retentives hoping to use PCs to organize their lives …
—The Washington Post
anal retentiveness
noun
or anal-retentiveness
… maybe it's my anal retentiveness, my futile attempts to bring order to a chaotic world. Who knows? All I know is there's no more beautiful sight than firewood stacked in long, perfect rows.
—Craig Wilson
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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