cerebral

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adjective ce·re·bral \sə-ˈrē-brəl, ˈser-ə-, ˈse-rə-\

Definition of cerebral

1a : of or relating to the brain or the intellectb : of, relating to, affecting, or being the cerebrum cerebral edema cerebral arteries
2a : appealing to intellectual appreciation cerebral dramab : primarily intellectual in nature a cerebral society books for cerebral readers

cerebrally

play \-brə-lē\ adverb

See cerebral defined for English-language learners

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Examples of cerebral in a Sentence

He's a very cerebral comedian.
a very cerebral jurist who has given much thought to what makes our nation's constitution work

Recent Examples of cerebral from the Web

One of those suing is 33-year-old Saul Jimenez Perea of Clearlake, who has cerebral palsy and suffers severe seizures that require frequent hospitalizations.

— don thompson, The Seattle Times, "Latino plaintiffs sue California alleging poor health care," 12 July 2017
Nett, an activist who has cerebral palsy, spoke through a friend to voice his concerns about the bill's deep cuts to Medicaid, the state-federal health plan for low-income people that helps pay for services for disabled people.

— deborah yetter, The Courier-Journal, "Rep. Yarmuth's message at Sunday health care forum: Keep speaking out," 9 July 2017
This resulted in me developing cerebral palsy, which affects my walking.

— the mighty, Teen Vogue, "I’m a Guy and I Survived Anorexia," 8 July 2017
Nett, 38, who has cerebral palsy, benefits from a Medicaid waiver, and the proposed health care plan would reduce it, drastically affecting his care, his caretaker Sarah Mack said.

— thomas novelly, The Courier-Journal, "Citations issued during protest at Sen. Mitch McConnell's downtown Louisville office," 6 July 2017
This weekend in New York, at the convention for the Society of American Baseball Research, Bouton went public about his brain disease: cerebral amyloid angiopathy, which is linked to dementia.

— tyler kepner, New York Times, "Jim Bouton, Author and Former Pitcher, Struggles With Brain Disease," 1 July 2017
Senderens was regarded by his peers as a visionary and a cerebral chef who helped open the way to new approaches to gastronomy.

— Washington Post, "French chef Senderens, visionary and rebel, dies at age 77," 28 June 2017
O’Connor, strong and good-humored, is partially disabled by cerebral palsy.

— mike sager, Smithsonian, "Will the Public Ever Get to See the “Dueling Dinosaurs”?," 28 June 2017
The fancy term for this is cerebral hypoperfusion — the defining characteristic of fainting (a.k.a.

— william b. farquhar, Washington Post, "Have you ever fainted? This is what was happening to your body.," 17 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cerebral.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

English borrowed its word cerebrum directly from the Latin word for "brain," but the adjective cerebral took a slightly more circuitous route into our language, reaching English by way of French cerebral. Cerebrum has been used in our language as a name for the brain since the early 1600s, though the more specific scientific sense, referring just to the large upper part of the brain, didn't develop until later. Cerebral has been appearing in print in English since at least 1816. Other brainy descendants of cerebrum in English include cerebellum (the part of the brain between the brain stem and the back of the cerebrum) and cerebrate, which arrived in English in 1915 with the meaning "to use the mind" or "to think."

Origin and Etymology of cerebral

French cérébral, from Latin cerebrum brain; akin to Old High German hirni brain, Greek kara head, keras horn, Sanskrit śiras head — more at horn

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1816

See Words from the same year