mental
1 Americanadjective
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of or relating to the mind.
mental powers;
mental suffering.
-
of, relating to, or affected by a disorder of the mind.
a mental patient;
mental illness.
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providing care for persons with disordered minds, emotions, etc..
a mental hospital.
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performed by or existing in the mind.
mental arithmetic;
a mental note.
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pertaining to intellectuals or intellectual activity.
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Informal. slightly daft; out of one's mind; crazy.
He's mental.
noun
adjective
adjective
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of or involving the mind or an intellectual process
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occurring only in the mind
mental calculations
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Preferred form: psychiatric. affected by mental illness
a mental patient
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Preferred form: psychiatric. concerned with care for persons with mental illness
a mental hospital
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slang insane
adjective
Usage
What does mental mean? Mental is an adjective that means relating to the mind.It is especially used in contrast with physical, which means relating to the body. Mental is commonly used in the context of psychological disorders or the care and treatment of people who have them. One of its most common uses is in the phrase mental health.Mental is sometimes used as a slang term with the same meaning as the informal sense of crazy, especially in the U.K. It’s typically used to describe a person or their behavior as being extreme or illogical in some way. Keep in mind, however, that when used in this way, words like crazy and mental may reinforce harmful stereotypes and associations with mental illness.Example: To be an elite athlete, you have to be physically strong, but you also have to perfect the mental aspects of your game.
Other Word Forms
- mentally adverb
Etymology
Origin of mental1
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin mentālis, equivalent to Latin ment- (stem of mēns ) mind + -ālis -al 1
Origin of mental2
First recorded in 1720–30; from Latin ment(um) “the chin” ( mentum ) + -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.
"Despite only around 3% of all people discharged from hospital experiencing a delay, each delay has a detrimental effect on the individual's physical and mental wellbeing," the report said.
From BBC
"England are a quality team skill-wise. It is adaptability and the mental side of things. There are lots of things they did wrong."
From Barron's
They are also about taking mental breaks, or leaving space for creative sparks to fly.
Google and Character.AI, a California startup, have agreed to settle several lawsuits that allege artificial intelligence-powered chatbots harmed the mental health of teenagers.
From Los Angeles Times
"He has shown great mental strength - he has played every game and not made a fuss," he said on Match of the Day.
From BBC
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.
