ENGLISH
REFERENCE

anal

adj.
C1 Advanced US //ˈeɪnəɫ// UK //ˈeɪnəl// anal Archaic Informal Slang Vulgar

adj. paying too much attention to small, unimportant details. You use this to describe someone who is very strict about rules or tidiness in an annoying way.

adj. excessively concerned with minute details, rules, or cleanliness. Derived from the psychoanalytic term 'anal-retentive'; used informally to describe a personality type that is overly fastidious or pedantic.


SIMPLE

He is so anal about keeping his desk clean.

CONTEXTUAL

My roommate is really anal about the kitchen being spotless, so I have to wash my dishes immediately.

COMPLEX

While her attention to detail makes her an excellent editor, she can be quite anal about minor formatting issues that don't actually affect the reader's experience.

Antonyms
Origin

Borrowed from Latin ānālis. By surface analysis, anus + -al. Psychological sense shortened from anal-retentive.

Usage

Typically used as a predicative adjective after a linking verb like 'be' or 'get'. Often followed by the preposition 'about'.

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