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Glite Dictionary
🧠 Good at remembering 💧 Holding moisture
retentive

retentive

7 6.5
Able to remember things easily and for a long time
  • adjective
  • /rɪˈtɛntɪv/
translation icon : retentivo
  • His retentive mind helped him excel in his studies and remember complex theories.
  • retentive memory
  • the most anal-retentive

Examples

  • She had discovered, early in her career, that she had an orderly mind and a highly retentive memory that were great assets in her work.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • She has a retentive memory, allowing her to recall details from years ago.

  • Such reinforcement adds to the retentive qualities of what is learned.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Children often have a retentive ability to learn languages quickly and easily.

Synonyms

tenacious
vsretentive
1 6.1

Having a very good memory

is about easy remembering and keeping information for a long time
memorious
vsretentive
  • Archaic
9.9

Able to remember things easily

stresses both easy recall and long-term information keeping
recollective
vsretentive
7.7

Remembers many details clearly

puts more weight on easy recall and long-term holding

Antonyms

forgetful
23 2.8

A person who often cannot remember things

Compounds

anal retentive
  • Specialized
5 9.6

Very fussy about order and cleanliness

anal retentive personality
  • Specialized
9.3

A person who wants things to be perfect and very neat

How Retentive

retentive
7 6.5
forgetful
23 2.8

Surface Forms

retentive positive

Morphology

retentive = retain (transparent) = retent + ive

Formed from the verb 'retain' + the adjectival suffix '-ive'; the meaning 'able to retain' is directly derived, though the stem appears as 'retent-' in the adjective.

Etymology

The word retentive comes from the Latin parts re- meaning 'back' and tenere meaning 'to hold', and it is the same root as retain. So a retentive mind 'holds' facts well and keeps them in memory.