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.
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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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The stubborn machine has won, and politicians are, for the most part, just fodder, which means that every politician who has to stand in front of a camera after a tragedy turns into another battle site in an endless culture war.Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2025
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Coaches will tell you of a character who could be grumpy or stubborn, but also of someone who needed faith shown in him.The Athletic UK Staff, The Athletic, 10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The cars are completely disassembled and modified around the original chassis with a process driven by Singer’s obsessive attention to detail.Kristin Shaw, Popular Science, 1 Jan. 2025
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Esther is the original feminist killjoy — acerbic, brilliant, obsessive, confrontational, deeply relatable.Jillian Eugenios, NBC News, 29 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Without the dogged work of ethical journalists, the Watergate scandal may have never been exposed.Sarah Bahr, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2024
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Its people and institutions have mounted a committed response to the drug menace through education, treatment programs and the dogged work of the city’s police force.Michelle Weber, Longreads, 6 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Certified billing software must meet strict criteria to ensure data integrity and support potential real-time reporting.Aleksandra Bal, Forbes, 12 Jan. 2025
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In fact, there's a strict set of rules the cast must follow.Rebecca Aizin, People.com, 11 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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In an interview days before Trump’s inauguration, Rosenworcel is adamant that regulation is part of the answer to America’s telecom security crisis.Eric Geller, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2025
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David Poole is adamant that the sales team is always upfront about the risks as well as upsides of investing.K.J. Yossman, Variety, 17 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near anal-retentive
Cite this Entry
“Anal-retentive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anal-retentive. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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