perceptual
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of perceptual
1875–80; percept + -ual, on the model of concept, conceptual
Explanation
Something that you experience through your senses is perceptual. You'll have perceptual problems in school if you accidentally wear your sunglasses instead of your reading glasses. The adjective perceptual is all about perceiving, or sensing things. It's your perceptual ability that allows you to make sense of the world around you by seeing and hearing. In science, the various sensory systems (such as visual and auditory abilities) are known as perceptual systems. The Latin root is percipere, which means "gather or seize" and also "grasp with the mind."
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.
At lower speeds, as in city traffic, you begin to hear the engine’s whispered revving in the perceptual background as it simultaneously propels the car and recharges the 22.7-kWh battery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
The researchers trained participants in the studies by drawing their attention to six perceptual qualities:
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
In the 19th century, mathematician Bernhard Riemann proposed that perceptual color spaces are not flat or straight, but curved.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 7, 2026
Since the 1950s, key figures launched important genres, including hard-edge abstract painter John McLaughlin, harbinger of Light and Space perceptual art, and assemblage master Wallace Berman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2025
Eye movement research is based on the idea that the human eye is capable of focusing on only a very small area at one time — what is called a perceptual span.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
