anal-retentive
anal-retentive — adjective
1. describes someone who pays extreme attention to small details and organisation,
describes someone who pays extreme attention to small details and organisation, often to the point that it slows things down or frustrates other people.
The librarian was so anal-retentive that she re-shelved books by spine colour after hours.
collocation: so + adj + that-clause
The night-shift nurse's anal-retentive habits meant every supply drawer was arranged in perfect rows.
collocation: anal-retentive habits
Akira's anal-retentive approach to filing made it impossible for colleagues to find anything.
The chef's anal-retentive ways meant every plate had exactly seventeen dots of sauce.
Mei-Lin's anal-retentive need to colour-code shared folders made her thirty minutes late for the meeting.
- perfectionistic
broader meaning — covers all areas of striving for flawlessness, not just tidiness
- fussy
more informal; emphasises being hard to please over minor details
- finicky
emphasises being overly particular, often about food, clothing, or appearance
文法句型
be + anal-retentive
anal-retentive about + noun/gerund
用法筆記
Often reduced to 'anal' in very informal speech, though this can sound crude to some listeners. The full hyphenated form is the standard polite choice.
常見錯誤
anal-retentive — noun
1. someone who cares too much about neatness and order, organising every small thin
someone who cares too much about neatness and order, organising every small thing to an extreme degree.
The new office manager was a real anal-retentive who colour-coded every folder in the cupboard.
collocation: a real anal-retentive
My flatmate is an anal-retentive who insists that towels be folded into neat rectangles.
collocation: an anal-retentive who + verb
Dr Osei called himself a reformed anal-retentive who learned to tolerate mess at home.
The team's anal-retentive spent twenty minutes rearranging the whiteboard markers by colour.
Javier, an anal-retentive, could not focus on his slides because the marker rack was uneven.
- perfectionist
broader meaning — not specific to tidiness or organisation
- neat freak
informal; stronger and specifically about cleanliness and order
- stickler
emphasises insisting on rules or precise standards
- slob
informal and strong — someone who is very untidy or lazy about cleaning
- free spirit
someone who does not follow rigid routines or worry about order
文法句型
a/an + anal-retentive
the + anal-retentive
possessive + anal-retentive
用法筆記
Less common than the adjective. When used as a noun, it is often preceded by modifiers like 'real', 'total', or 'complete' to add emphasis.