anankastic

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word anankastic. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word anankastic, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say anankastic in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word anankastic you have here. The definition of the word anankastic will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofanankastic, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀναγκαστικός (anankastikós), from ἀναγκάζω (anankázō, to force, to compel).

Pronunciation

Adjective

anankastic (comparative more anankastic, superlative most anankastic)

  1. (linguistics) Imperative, as in the anankastic conditional.[1]
  2. (psychology) Characterised by compulsion; obsessive-compulsive.
    • 1991: ‘You’re a classic anal-retentive,’ he says, ‘tirelessly absorbed by minutiae, anankastic in the extreme – it’s lucky you have me to deal with the broad sweep of things, to do the abstract thinking.’ — Will Self, ‘Mono-Cellular’, The Quantity Theory of Insanity

Noun

anankastic (plural anankastics)

  1. (psychology, rare) An obsessive-compulsive individual.
    Synonym: anancastic
    • 2012, Matthew R. Broome, The Maudsley Reader in Phenomenological Psychiatry, page 235:
      Like many anankastics, he suffers from a disturbance in the capacity to act, which is revealed especially as an impediment to beginning something new and completing something.

References