anankastic

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀναγκαστικός (anankastikós), from ἀνάγκη (anánkē, “force, necessity”).

• IPA^(key): /ænənˈkæstɪk/

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