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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This powerful, palm-sized tool hits the town on stubborn breakouts with a potent blend of blue (415 nm) and red (630 nm) light therapies.Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 21 Nov. 2024
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Few modern artists do so much to persuade us that creative endeavor is a struggle—an anxious wrestling with the stubborn materials to hand, and a determination to plow on.Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Kulusevski is obsessive about his own body — Cristiano Ronaldo is another of his heroes.Jack Pitt-Brooke, The Athletic, 21 Nov. 2024
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Allen was obsessive about studying birds—especially species that were vanishing.Tim Gallagher, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Pueyo is a dogged defender who can shoot the ball at a decent clip from 3-point range.Sabreena Merchant, The Athletic, 16 Apr. 2024
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The episode details the long pursuit of an elusive killer by dogged Palm Beach County, Fla., investigators, which resulted in the arrest in 2017 of a suspect with a surprising connection to the victim.KC Baker, People.com, 1 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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About half of states have laws targeting transgender health care, but Tennessee’s is among the strictest.Ian Millhiser, Vox, 15 Nov. 2024
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Many welcome Trump’s more strict immigration policy.Kristen Taketa, The Mercury News, 11 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Nobody was more adamant about getting rid of the SITDs than Gabe, who had to convince and cajole last holdout Sam to agree to the deal.Dalton Ross, EW.com, 21 Nov. 2024
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During the early stages of the war, Waltz was engaged with Ukrainian civil society members and was adamant in his criticism of Moscow.Nataliya Gumenyuk, Foreign Affairs, 15 Nov. 2024
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 3 Dec. 2024.
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