as in spontaneous
arising from deeply-felt feelings and responses as opposed to conscious intellect
He had a visceral reaction to the sight of blood.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of visceral
With Tanigaki’s signature mix of bone-crunching choreography and unrelenting pace, the film is a visceral showcase of martial arts cinema at its most uncompromising, the kind that genre fans – and buyers – will want to track closely.
—
Marta Balaga, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
Few if any filmmakers can build and breathlessly sustain visceral intensity with the command of Paul Greengrass, who brings documentary realism, kinetic energy and heart-pumping adrenaline to stories drawn from life or fiction, generally about people caught in explosive situations.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2025
Williams, a 77-year-old Alaskan Athabascan Indian who has lived in East Oakland since the early 1970s, finds plenty of reasons to despise the artwork, the most visceral being its nudity.
—Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2025
The first crazy thing that happens to the movie Smurls is when a kitchen chandelier almost falls on them, though the most visceral is when oldest sister Dawn Smurl (Beau Gadsdon) suddenly vomits up pieces of glass, leaving the sink and her face a bloody mess.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for visceral
Marta Balaga, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
Few if any filmmakers can build and breathlessly sustain visceral intensity with the command of Paul Greengrass, who brings documentary realism, kinetic energy and heart-pumping adrenaline to stories drawn from life or fiction, generally about people caught in explosive situations.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2025
Williams, a 77-year-old Alaskan Athabascan Indian who has lived in East Oakland since the early 1970s, finds plenty of reasons to despise the artwork, the most visceral being its nudity.
—Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2025
The first crazy thing that happens to the movie Smurls is when a kitchen chandelier almost falls on them, though the most visceral is when oldest sister Dawn Smurl (Beau Gadsdon) suddenly vomits up pieces of glass, leaving the sink and her face a bloody mess.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for visceral
Recent Examples of Synonyms for visceral
Adjective
-
Mid-century collective behavior theories considered social movements to be nonrational, spontaneous events occurring during moments of social and cultural breakdown.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
10 Sep. 2025
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This bill would entrench West Oakland and many other neighborhoods across the state as sacrifice zones, forcing us to deal with toxic chemicals and spontaneous fires for the sake of corporate profits.—
Brian Beveridge,
Mercury News,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Rather than employ mechanical changes to his swing, the Twins thought moving free and easy would simply allow Jenkins to attack more of the zone.—
Dan Hayes,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
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While quartz has served the industry well for decades, its sensitivity to environmental conditions, mechanical stress and aging presents challenges in demanding applications.—
Markus Lutz,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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There are varying depths of coma, however, and some people may still have some reflex responses.—
Alyce Collins,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Sep. 2025
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Beyond that, though, the history of the past couple of years shows that NVDA's stock move isn't a reliable directional driver of the broad tape beyond the reflex reaction.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
26 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Her pieces consisted of geometric tops influenced by flowers’ natural designs and also modernized micro shorts.—
Robyn Mowatt,
Essence,
12 Sep. 2025
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Many lodges are locally run, and connections to nearby villages feel natural, not staged.—
Daniel Scheffler,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Is the management team proactive or reactive?—
Jack Mullen,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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Up until this point, their private war had mostly been reactive.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The man was working at a mechanic shop in the 4300 block of Eden Road in Kennedale.—
Fousia Abdullahi,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
8 Sep. 2025
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Part surgeon, part mechanic — as seen sawing away at a leg in EW's exclusive Fall Movie Preview image, above — days spent filming in Victor's lab were some of the actor's favorite.—
Gerrad Hall,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Visceral.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/visceral. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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