cerebral
Americanadjective
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Anatomy, Zoology. of or relating to the cerebrum or the brain.
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betraying or characterized by the use of the intellect rather than intuition or instinct.
His is a cerebral music that leaves many people cold.
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Phonetics. retroflex.
noun
adjective
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of or relating to the cerebrum or to the entire brain
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involving intelligence rather than emotions or instinct
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phonetics another word for cacuminal
noun
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The term is also used figuratively to describe things that appeal to the intellect.
Other Word Forms
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
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Flowers for Algernon
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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.
He looked remarkably like the bald, wheelchair-using Marvel comic-book character and had already spent seven seasons playing a similarly cerebral, principled leader as Capt. Picard on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
The more neurons they produce, the greater the potential for the cerebral cortex to expand and develop folds.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026
Mitte, who had cerebral palsy, drew on his own experience for his role in the Emmy-winning drama series.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
“Will always was cerebral and thought through the who, what, when, where and why of what we were doing,” Thompson said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
And after several exchanges Rosa’s told me that she has been in a wheelchair her whole life, that she can walk but only with arm crutches, and that she was born with cerebral palsy.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
