CEFR C1

anal-retentive

adjective

Meaning

anal-retentive means preoccupied with achieving perfection, order and control and with collecting, possessing, and retaining objects. It can have more than one sense, so use the alternate meanings and examples to choose the meaning that matches your sentence.

Examples

The writer described the response as anal-retentive.
A anal-retentive tone can change the mood of a conversation.

Synonyms: anal

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anal-retentive (C1)

adjective

Definition

Examples

The writer described the response as anal-retentive.
A anal-retentive tone can change the mood of a conversation.

How to Use anal-retentive

anal-retentive + noun (collocation): Use anal-retentive before a noun to describe that quality. — "The writer described a anal-retentive reaction."
become anal-retentive (collocation): Use after become, seem, or be for a state or quality. — "The discussion became anal-retentive near the end."

Synonyms of anal-retentive

Words with a similar meaning to anal-retentive:

anal

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