anal retentive

American  

adjective

1. having an anal character.

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noun

1. a person who is anal retentive.

anal retentive British  

noun

1. a person who exhibits anal personality traits

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adjective

1. exhibiting anal personality traits

Etymology

Origin of anal retentive

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Patsy archly described someone as so anal retentive “she couldn’t sit down for fear of sucking up the furniture!”

From The Wall Street Journal

When someone is categorized as being anal retentive it refers to Freud’s anal psychosexual stage.

From Salon

"I'm a weird combination of anal retentive and anal expulsive," he says while standing in front of a giant refrigerator crammed with film.

From Los Angeles Times

Without thinking, I put the petal into the bowl because I'm anal retentive and controlling and don't really enjoy, or even understand ornaments.

From BBC

“I’m very anal retentive, and I’d like to fix that,” he said.

From Washington Post