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Showing results for cerebral. Search instead for cerebra.
Synonyms

cerebral

American  
[suh-ree-bruhl, ser-uh-] / səˈri brəl, ˈsɛr ə- /

adjective

  1. Anatomy, Zoology. of or relating to the cerebrum or the brain.

  2. betraying or characterized by the use of the intellect rather than intuition or instinct.

    His is a cerebral music that leaves many people cold.

  3. Phonetics. retroflex.

noun

  1. Phonetics. a cerebral sound.

cerebral British  
/ səˈriːbrəl, ˈsɛrɪbrəl /

adjective

  1. of or relating to the cerebrum or to the entire brain

  2. involving intelligence rather than emotions or instinct

  3. phonetics another word for cacuminal

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. phonetics a consonant articulated in the manner of a cacuminal consonant

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
cerebral Scientific  
/ sĕr′ə-brəl,sə-rē′brəl /

  1. Relating to or involving the brain or cerebrum.

cerebral Cultural  

  1. A descriptive term for things pertaining to the brain or cerebrum.

Discover More

The term is also used figuratively to describe things that appeal to the intellect.

Other Word Forms

  • cerebrally adverb
  • intercerebral adjective
  • noncerebral adjective
  • overcerebral adjective
  • postcerebral adjective
  • precerebral adjective
  • subcerebral adjective
  • supercerebral adjective
  • supercerebrally adverb

Etymology

Origin of cerebral

From the New Latin word cerebrālis, dating back to 1795–1805. See cerebrum, -al 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Brain regions become more segregated, and cerebral architecture stabilizes.

From The Wall Street Journal

Born 24 weeks premature, she has cerebral palsy, a partial visual impairment and a shunt.

From BBC

The number of apical progenitor cells, which are essential for building the cerebral cortex, was significantly lower.

From Science Daily

Birds demonstrate that conscious processing can occur without a cerebral cortex and that very different brain structures can arrive at similar functional outcomes.

From Science Daily

The mice gradually developed marked motor problems, experienced significant neuron loss in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum, and showed strong neuroinflammatory responses.

From Science Daily

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.