anal-retentive
"anal-retentive" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“anal-retentive” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Preoccupied with achieving perfection, order and control and with collecting, possessing, and retaining objects.
Corpus desk
Index EN-anal-retentive · anal-retentive · English
anal-retentive · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 14 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | anal-retentive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “anal-retentive” in English
Rare enough to double-check
anal-retentive is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for anal-retentive, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From anal + retentive. First use appears c. 1936 in the writings of Marjorie Brierley. The correct English form is anal-retentive, spelled A-N-A-L---R-E-T-E-N-T-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Preoccupied with achieving perfection, order and control and with collecting, possessing, and retaining objects.
- 2Overly obsessive concerning small details.
Etymology
From anal + retentive. First use appears c. 1936 in the writings of Marjorie Brierley.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.