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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30 GRE Words Beginning with "B" & "C"
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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.
However, only mammals have a cerebral cortex organized into six distinct layers.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 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, like his character Walter “Flynn” White Jr., had cerebral palsy, played an integral supporting role on the AMC series, which premiered in 2008 and lasted five seasons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Mitte, who lived with cerebral palsy, drew on his own experience for his role as Walter White Jr in the Emmy-winning drama series starring Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
If such a thing as telepathy existed, one of its glories would be the opportunity for each of us to read the books in the cerebral cortices of our loved ones.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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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.
