control freakn.
/kənˈtrəʊl ˌfriːk/, U.S. /kənˈtroʊl ˌfrik/ Originally U.S.
A person who demonstrates a need to exercise tight control over his or her surroundings, behaviour, or appearance, esp. by assuming command of any situation or exerting authority over others. Cf. freak n.1 4d.
ΚΠ
1970 Los Angeles Times 4 Oct. (Calendar section) 42/4 Monte's a control freak. If he wasn't he wouldn't be a director.
1977 M. Herr Dispatches 13 I got to hate surprises, control freak at the crossroads..one of those people who always..had to know what was coming next.
1985 Adweek (U.S.) (Nexis) 25 Mar. Not that I'm a control freak... But I had observed it was better when you had a company where you called the shots.
1997 Independent 7 June (Long Weekend section) 3/5 It's hard to reconcile the control-freak in his nature with the hyper-adrenalinated kid in front of the camera.
2012 Guardian (Nexis) 6 Oct. 34 He is a High Tory control freak who wants to run every school in the country... He hasn't got a localist bone in his body.
Derivatives
conˈtrol-freakery n. behaviour or traits characteristic of a control freak.
ΚΠ
1990 Washington Post 21 Oct. f6/2 With a look of frantic entitlement on her face as she does that floaty shuttling thing back and forth across the lanes, pure Type A, fueled by match-grade control-freakery.
2001 Times 11 Dec. i. 1/7 Marsden, re-elected in Shrewsbury and Atcham six months ago, joined Charles Kennedy's party saying he was sick and tired of the Government's control freakery and spin.
2012 O. James Love Bombing x. 187 His parents were calm and easy-going, on the whole, and he found her control-freakery hard to bear.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1970