anal-retentive
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
anal-retentive
Where it comes from
From anal + retentive. First use appears c. 1936 in the writings of Marjorie Brierley. From the Freudian concept of the anal stage (roughly synonymous with toddlerhood), according to which children who are strictly punished for episodes of (especially fecal) incontinence during toilet-training eventually learn to retain forcefully their excreta, in order to avoid punishment; as a result, they develop ultimately in life a strong distaste for any kind of mess, disorder, imperfection, or lack of control. Compare anal-expulsive, which is the opposite extreme.
adjective more anal-retentive · most anal-retentive
- Preoccupied with achieving perfection, order and control and with collecting, possessing, and retaining objects.
- Overly obsessive concerning small details.
Similar: anal
Thesaurus
adjective
Similar: anal
Translations
Every language
adj preoccupied with achieving order
| Português | anal-retentivo |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | analfixiert, pingelig, ordnungsliebend, minutiös, genau, akribisch |
adj overly obsessive concerning small details
| Português | controlador, neurótico, obsessivo |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | kleinlich, pedantisch, übergenau, überkorrekt, etepetete, penibel |
Talk about this word "anal-retentive." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/anal-retentive. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. anal-retentive. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/anal-retentive "anal-retentive." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/anal-retentive.Cite this
@misc{anal_retentive_2026,
title = {anal-retentive},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/anal-retentive},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
