cerebral
Americanadjective
-
Anatomy, Zoology. of or relating to the cerebrum or the brain.
-
betraying or characterized by the use of the intellect rather than intuition or instinct.
His is a cerebral music that leaves many people cold.
-
Phonetics. retroflex.
noun
adjective
-
of or relating to the cerebrum or to the entire brain
-
involving intelligence rather than emotions or instinct
-
phonetics another word for cacuminal
noun
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
Explanation
If you are a cerebral person, no one would ever call you a drama queen. You make decisions using your intelligence and cold, hard facts, instead of your emotions. The word cerebral gets its meaning from cerebrum, which is Latin for "brain." Cerebral people use their brains instead of their hearts. The cerebrum is a particular section of the brain, and anything related to that part is also cerebral, like in medicine. A cerebral hemorrhage, for example, means a hemorrhage has occurred in the brain — a phrase you'd never want to hear coming from a doctor.
Vocabulary lists containing cerebral
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
30 GRE Words Beginning with "B" & "C"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Flowers for Algernon
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
Logan Lye has cerebral palsy and learning disabilities.
From BBC • Apr. 5, 2026
Planning is for weaklings, rational analysis is disdained, the amygdala and the gut replace the cerebral cortex.
From Salon • Mar. 14, 2026
Mercury’s roster of cerebral influencers includes tech and history podcaster Dwarkesh Patel, science video journalist Cleo Abram and Azout, the Sublime founder now represented by Figures.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
On Tuesday the FDA said it was in fact approving use of leucovorin for a rare condition called cerebral folate deficiency but not for autism.
From Barron's • Mar. 10, 2026
A moment’s reading vindicated Miss Marsten’s statement; the Nexus-6 did have two trillion constituents plus a choice within a range of ten million possible combinations of cerebral activity.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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.
