Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having the quality, power, or capacity of retaining.
- adj. Having the ability or capacity to retain knowledge or information with ease: a retentive memory.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Serving to hold or confine; restraining; confining.
- Retaining; having the power to keep or preserve: as, a body retentive of heat or of magnetism; the retentive force of the stomach.
- Specifically, in psychology, retaining presentations or ideas; capable of preserving mental presentations.
- n. That which restrains or confines; a restraint.
Wiktionary
- adj. Having power to retain; as, a retentive memory.
- n. obsolete That which retains or confines; a restraint.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Having power to retain.
- n. rare That which retains or confines; a restraint.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. having the capacity to retain something
- adj. having the power, capacity, or quality of retaining water
- adj. good at remembering
Examples
“Perhaps I simply need to stop being so … "retentive".”
“He's not obliged to like her ” some people don't, as he points out ” but it is only fair to let your readers know that she has a thoroughly first-rate mind (not just "jaggedly sharp") and a phenomenal (not merely "retentive") memory.”
“She's a dictionary fan who even coined the joke, "Does 'anal-retentive' have a hyphen?" back in 1990.”
“Such high standards are an impossibility, therefore, the pushing for that "perfection" creates fake, frustrated, anal retentive, "just for the picture" kind of mothers that become so involved in what they're supposed to be that they forget to love their children.”
“This, on the other hand, I read because I wanted to see how it came out, not because I spell anal-retentive with the hyphen in.”
“In fact, these wires are not just twisted together in a sensible, civilized manner, they are wound tight enough to make an anal-retentive boy-scout proud, and then they are doubled over and twisted again.”
“If my inbox shows more than 60 emails sitting there waiting to be answered or taken care of in some way, I get very anxious (yes, I'm a bit anal-retentive).”
“KCNA says: It, with effects of both preventive and curative treatment, helps improve mental and retentive faculties by multiplying brain cells.”
North Korea Hails New ‘Anti-Ageing Super Drink’ | Impact Lab
“Away from anal retentive questions of legal formalism, does anyone give a damn as to whether or not it is right/moral/proper for the govt to effectively seize one-sixth of the economy over the clear unambiguous disapproval of the electorate?”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Would “Deem & Pass” Survive Judicial Review?
“Seriously people, why are you getting all an_l retentive about this?”
New Red-Band Trailer for HOT TUB TIME MACHINE – Collider.com
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘retentive’.
-
GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
-
EN - academic vocabulary
Use these and get promoted
abandon, abandonment, abnormally, abstract, abstraction, abstractly, abstracts, academia, academic, academically, academics, academies and 3119 more...
-
Wharton, Edith. Age of Innocence. 1920
A list of difficult words for L2-12 learners.
Faust, erection, metropolitan, splendor, shabby, conservatives, cherished, inconvenient, clung, acoustics, coupe, scramble and 261 more...
-
NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
-
Eazy E
motley, callous, languid, copious, dubious, contemptible, disparage, sporadic, gratuitous, disillusioned, conflagration, concordance and 99 more...
-
From Book - SAT & College Dictionary ...
ebb, exotic, immure, abeyance, panegyric, debonair, protege, dissipate, frantic, penitent, abject, edify and 871 more...
-
GRE 3500 Q
quadruped, quaff, quaint, quandary, quarry, quay, queasy, quell, querulous, quibble, quietude, quip and 89 more...
-
DEF's list
Obscure Words
obfuscate, harbinger, morose, meniscus, conspicuous, grandiose, cogitated, matron, erudite, oness, apothegms, assuage and 475 more...
-
5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
-
_mark's keywords ™
words that describe me or that i am focusing on.
( personal list )
more:
http://www.wordnik.com/lists/personas--2<...satirical, dark, enigmatic, androgyny, appreciative, opinionated, inquisitive, sensitive, nonchalant, acerbic, scientific, circumspective and 220 more...
-
ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
-
Proficiency Words List
heparin, lymphoid, renal, filtration, accrete, acetic, equilibrate, trypsin, fungi, jubilant, detention, coprophagous and 14 more...
-
GRE
for English learning.
abrogate, abstemious, acarpous, accrete, convivial, ascetic, groove, elephantine, iconoclasm, rigmarole, ignimbrite, confiscable and 3 more...
-
List 15
Derivatives from Chapter 15 of Part One of English Words from Latin and Greek Elements
perfidy, tenacity, suffuse, expatriate, fidelity, obsequious, obsequy, potentate, aver, vivacity, incisive, retort and 8 more...
-
set 12
libelous, ellipsis, propriety, verdant, doff, veracity, clavicle, collusion, argot, scoff, retentive, futile and 70 more...
-
difficult-list41
rescind, resolution, resolve, resonant, respite, resplendent, restitution, restive, retentive, reticent, retinue, retiring and 30 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for retentive.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.