Meanings
nounretentiveness (uncountable)
- uncountableThe state of being retentive.
The Neolithic of 8000 to 6000 B.C. is in the sign of Cancer, a feminine sign associated with domesticity, retentiveness, and sentiment.
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 131
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe power of retaining and recalling past experience
Similar
nounthe property of retaining possessions that have been acquired
Similar
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Irish coinneálacht
- coinneálachtstate of being retentive
Cite this entry
APA
retentiveness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retentiveness
MLA
“retentiveness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retentiveness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “retentiveness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retentiveness.
Source: retentiveness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.