phrenology

American  

[fri-nol-uh-jee, fre-] / frɪˈnɒl ə dʒi, frɛ- /

noun

1. a psychological theory or analytical method based on the belief that certain mental faculties and character traits are indicated by the configurations of the skull.

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phrenology British  

/ ˌfrɛnəˈlɒdʒɪkəl, frɪˈnɒlədʒɪ /

noun

1. (formerly) the branch of science concerned with localization of function in the human brain, esp determination of the strength of the faculties by the shape and size of the skull overlying the parts of the brain thought to be responsible for them

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Other Word Forms

• phrenologic adjective
• phrenological adjective
• phrenologically adverb
• phrenologist noun

Etymology

Origin of phrenology

An Americanism dating back to 1795–1805; phreno- + -logy

Example Sentences

“He had to look beautiful, like a phrenology head or an anatomical manual,” Del Toro adds.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2025

Video and image analysis technology had "no scientific basis", co-author Eleanor Drage told the BBC News, dismissing it as "modern phrenology", the false theory skull shape could reveal character and mental faculties.

From BBC • Oct. 13, 2022

Still, Poe wasn't immune to quackery himself, finding trendy pseudosciences like phrenology and animal magnetism perfectly sensible.

From Salon • Jul. 25, 2021

To make matters worse, FINA’s reasoning for the prohibition sounds like something straight out of an 1890s phrenology manual: The caps do not “fit the natural form of the head.”

From Washington Post • Jul. 3, 2021

If his interests had been in basket weaving or phrenology, she would have followed him just as readily.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey