packrats
Clutter-loving accumulators
Packrats are rodents native to North America known for collecting objects and storing them in their nests—a habit that gives rise to the figurative sense.
A packrat is someone who compulsively accumulates possessions and resists discarding them: My grandmother was a packrat who saved every newspaper since 1962.
The term suggests harmless hoarding rather than clinical disorder.
Gathering in increasing quantity
- amassingCollecting in quantity
- stockpilingAccumulating supplies in quantity
- stashingConcealing for safekeeping
- squirrelingHiding away gradually
collecting · gathering · saving · acquiring · piling · keeping · storing · caching
Collecting rodent species
- desertTo leave behind completely
- middensHistorical waste accumulations
- nestsAnimal-built shelters for young
- cactusSpiny desert plant
burrows · nocturnal · bushy-tailed · southwestern · urine · crystallized · paleontology · debris
Objects kept for remembrance
- keepsakesItems preserved for sentiment
- souvenirsObjects preserving travel memories
- heirloomsObjects passed through family lines
- memoriesStored past experiences
nostalgia · sentimental · attachment · treasured · irreplaceable · meaningful · inherited · photographs
accumulating
Gathering in increasing quantity
- amassingCollecting in quantity
- stockpilingAccumulating supplies in quantity
- stashingConcealing for safekeeping
squirreling · collecting · gathering · saving · acquiring · piling · keeping · storing · caching · treasuring
woodrat
Collecting rodent species
- desertTo leave behind completely
- middensHistorical waste accumulations
- nestsAnimal-built shelters for young
cactus · burrows · nocturnal · bushy-tailed · southwestern · urine · crystallized · paleontology · debris · twigs
mementos
Objects kept for remembrance
- keepsakesItems preserved for sentiment
- souvenirsObjects preserving travel memories
- heirloomsObjects passed through family lines
memories · nostalgia · sentimental · attachment · treasured · irreplaceable · meaningful · inherited · photographs · letters
disorganized
Lacking systematic arrangement
- messyLacking order or neatness
- overstuffedExcessively filled or padded
- crowdedFilled beyond comfort
cramped · piled · heaped · chaotic · jumbled · scattered · littered · untidy · disarray · tangled
packratsminimalists
Advocates of deliberate simplicity
declutterers · purgers · disposers · tosser · spartan
packratsminimalists
Advocates of deliberate simplicity
tidiers · organizers · monks
- packrat mentalityCompulsion to keep everything