🍑 Near the anus 🧠 Freud's childhood stage

anal

18 9.1

Relating to a childhood stage about toilet training and bowel control

adjective
/ˈeɪnəl/

Formal

: puntilloso

Yeah, I think they call that anal retentive.
anal father
anal sex

I mean, what was your let's go to your anal stage that came out wrong.

Examples

It's just that I'm anal about that kind of thing.

Bridesmaids (2011)
"Oh, please!" Alan had to be the most anal-retentive person Lizzie knew.

Fiction book (2002)
So you remember how anal he was about them, right?

The Penthouse (2010)
Some people say detail guys are anal.

Plain Clothes (1988)
One of them must have an anal personality.

Fiction book (1993)
I doubt whether you could remain anal retentive for very long.

Fiction book (1990)
I'm what your average psychiatrist would call "anal-retentive."

Bloodletting (1997)
Some act like it's a flaw, like I'm anal retentive or obsessive-compulsive.

Blog text (14)
Children who are excessively anal about cleanliness may struggle with sharing toys.
His anal approach to organizing his desk made it the neatest in the office.

Synonyms

anal retentive

vsanal

Specialized

9 9.6

Very fussy about order and cleanliness

refers to the developmental stage focused on bowel control rather than the resulting personality

Compounds

anal sex

Offensive

20 7.3

Sexual activity when a person with a penis puts it into another person's anus

anal retentive

Specialized

9 9.6

Very fussy about order and cleanliness

anal intercourse

Offensive

2 7.7

Sex in which a penis goes into another person's anus

anal sphincter

Specialized

1 4.6

A ring of muscle around the anus that controls when you pass stool

anal personality

Specialized

1 9.5

A person who is very tidy, likes control, and is often stubborn

anal stage

Specialized

1 8.4

A childhood stage when pleasure and conflict focus on toilet training and bowel and bladder control

anal phase

Specialized

1 8.6

A stage in early childhood when a child learns to control their bowel movements and toilet use

anal retentive personality

Specialized

1 9.3

A person who wants things to be perfect and very neat

anal glaucoma

Offensive

9.9

Being so focused on small details that you miss the main point

Surface Forms

anal positive

Morphology

anal = anus (semi-transparent) = anus + al

The form is still built from 'anus' + '-al', but the Freudian technical sense is specialized and less directly guessable for learners.

Etymology

Anal in psychology comes from the same Latin anus, because Freud used it for a childhood stage focused on 'bowel control' and the 'anus'. That's why calling someone 'anal' can mean they are very tidy or controlling, as in anal-retentive.