visceral
Americanadjective
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of or relating to the viscera.
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affecting the viscera.
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of the nature of or resembling viscera.
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characterized by or proceeding from instinct rather than intellect.
a visceral reaction.
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characterized by or dealing with coarse or base emotions; earthy; crude.
a visceral literary style.
adjective
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of, relating to, or affecting the viscera
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characterized by intuition or instinct rather than intellect
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of visceral
First recorded in 1565–75; from Medieval Latin viscerālis, equivalent to viscer(a) ( see viscera) + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
When something's visceral, you feel it in your guts. A visceral feeling is intuitive — there might not be a rational explanation, but you feel that you know what's best, like your visceral reaction against egg salad. Your hatred of mice may not be rational, but it is visceral, and every time you see one, you feel like you're going to faint. And when you had to decide whether you were going to stay in Florida or move to Texas, even though you had a good job in Orlando you had a visceral feeling that Texas would be the right choice . . . and it turned out you were meant to be a rancher! Visceral can also mean “relating to the viscera,” with viscera being your organs.
Vocabulary lists containing visceral
This Week in Words: April 6–12, 2019
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National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 2
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "V"
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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.
The first act has a visceral, terrifying sequence with panicky close-ups of extras sprinting pell-mell toward the car.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
People who consumed more coffee tended to have lower levels of both total body fat and visceral fat, along with greater skeletal muscle mass.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
And the footage seems to have had a visceral impact.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Its fantastical elements, from the ambush on Troy led by Matt Damon’s Odysseus to a giant cyclops that gobbles his men in a cave, were created primarily with physical effects for a more visceral impact.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
A visceral urge to flee sweeps through me, so powerful that I slow, stop, pull away from the slaver.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
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.
