cerebral

UK/ˈsɛ.ɹɪb.ɹəl//səˈɹi.bɹəl/

cerebral adjective: of or relating to the brain, cerebrum, or cerebral cortex.

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Adjective (1)

cerebral (comparative more cerebral, superlative most cerebral)

(relational) Of or relating to the brain, cerebrum, or cerebral cortex.

Synonyms:

brainial, brainy
Intellectual rather than emotional or physical.
- Certainly, “Capital” is a cerebral read and the dangers of the world Marx lived in are not all the same as ours.2024 September 19, James Miller, “Karl Marx, Weirder Than Ever”, in The New York Times Book Review, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
- His cerebral candidacy, inspired by European and North American political and economic philosophers, and his very appearance, with his light-colored skin, trim physique and penchant for preppy sweaters, contrasted with an electorate largely made up of impoverished Quechua-speaking people and...2025 April 13, Simon Romero, “Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel-Winning Peruvian Novelist, Dies at 89”, in The New York Times

Adjective (2)

cerebral (comparative more cerebral, superlative most cerebral)

(obsolete) Retroflex.

cerebral meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali

cerebral in Hindi

सेरेब्रल, प्रमस्तिष्क

cerebral in Tamil

பெருமூளை சம்பந்தப்பட்ட, பெருமூளைச் சிரை, மூளையத்தற்குரிய

cerebral in Marathi

सेरेब्रल

cerebral in Bengali

মস্তিষ্ক সংক্রান্ত, বুদ্ধিবৃত্তিক

More languagesFewer languages

cerebral in Telugu: సెరిబ్రల్
cerebral in Malayalam: സെറിബ്രൽ
cerebral in Kannada: ಮಿದುಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದ, ಬೌದ್ಧಿಕ, ಬುದ್ಧಿಗೆ ತ್ರಾಸಕೊಡುವ
cerebral in Odia: ସେରେବ୍ରାଲ୍
cerebral in Nepali: सेरेब्रल
cerebral in Arabic: مُخِّيّ muḵḵiyy
cerebral in Indonesian: berotak

Examples of cerebral in a sentence

It’s like a cerebral Woodstock, only with musical rather than chemical stimulants (and better hygiene).
A cerebral douche-like flushing of neurotransmitters in my smoke-, booze-, and heartache-soaked brain.
These CAA-associated microvasculopathy (CAA-AV) changes were more common in the cerebral cortex and meninges.

All 40 example sentences with cerebral

Synonyms of cerebral

Forms of cerebral

comparative	more cerebral
superlative	most cerebral

Origin of cerebral

Borrowing from French cérébral, from Latin cerebrum (“a brain”); equivalent to cerebrum + -al.

Semantic loan from Sanskrit मूर्धन्य (mūrdhanya, “pertaining to the head”).

Words formed from cerebral

Words that rhyme with cerebral

27 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about cerebral

What does cerebral mean?: Cerebral means of or relating to the brain, cerebrum, or cerebral cortex.
What is cerebral in Hindi?: Cerebral in Hindi is सेरेब्रल, प्रमस्तिष्क. See Cerebral meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is cerebral?: Cerebral is an adjective.
How do you pronounce cerebral?: Cerebral is pronounced /ˈsɛ.ɹɪb.ɹəl/ (UK).

Words near cerebral in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: cerebral (page history and authors); cerebral (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cerebral (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cerebral (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cerebral (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cerebral (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cerebral (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cerebral (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cerebral (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cerebral (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-cerebral.ogg, en-au-cerebral.ogg.

Cite this entry: “cerebral.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cerebral. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.