cerebral
adjective
Simple meaning
Related to that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sehruhbruhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɛɹəbɹəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Involving intelligence rather than emotions or instinct
Intellectual rather than emotional or physical.
anatomyrelational
Of or relating to the brain, cerebrum, or cerebral cortex.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Involving intelligence rather than emotions or instinct
Used this way, cerebral is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use cerebral
- “A cerebral approach to the problem.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The layer of unmyelinated neurons (the grey matter) forming the cortex of the cerebrum.
Death when respiration and other reflexes are absent.
Swelling of the brain due to the uptake of water in the neuropile and white matter.
Either half of the cerebrum.
Bleeding from a ruptured blood vessel in the brain.
The layer of unmyelinated neurons (the grey matter) forming the cortex of the cerebrum.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.