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Synonyms

central

1 American  
[sen-truhl] / ˈsɛn trəl /

adjective

  1. of or forming the center.

    the central hut in the village.

  2. in, at, or near the center.

    a central position.

  3. constituting something from which other related things proceed or upon which they depend.

    a central office.

  4. principal; chief; dominant.

    the play's central character.
    Synonyms:
    primary, leading, key, main, major

  5. Anatomy, Zoology.

    1. of or relating to the central nervous system.

    2. of or relating to the centrum of a vertebra.

  6. Phonetics. (of a speech sound) produced with the tongue articulating neither expressly forward nor in the back part of the mouth, as any of the sounds of lull.

  7. Physics. (of a force) directed to or from a fixed point.

noun

  1. (formerly)

    1. a main telephone exchange.

    2. a telephone operator at such an exchange.

central 2 American  
[sen-trahl, sen-trahl] / sɛnˈtrɑl, sɛnˈtrɑl /

noun

plural

centrals,

plural

centrales

  1. (in Spanish America and the Philippines) a mill for crushing cane into raw sugar.

Central 3 American  
[sen-truhl] / ˈsɛn trəl /

noun

  1. a region in central Scotland. 1,016 sq. mi. (2,631 sq. km).

central British  
/ ˈsɛntrəl /

adjective

  1. in, at, of, from, containing, or forming the centre of something

    the central street in a city

    the central material of a golf ball

  2. main, principal, or chief; most important

    the central cause of a problem

    1. of or relating to the central nervous system

    2. of or relating to the centrum of a vertebra

  4. of, relating to, or denoting a vowel articulated with the tongue held in an intermediate position halfway between the positions for back and front vowels, as for the a of English soda

  5. (of a force) directed from or towards a point

  6. informal (immediately postpositive) used to describe a place where a specified thing, quality, etc is to be found in abundance

    nostalgia central
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • centrally adverb

Etymology

Origin of central1

First recorded in 1620–30; from Latin centrālis, “centrally located,” equivalent to centr(um) center + -ālis -al 1

Origin of central2

First recorded in 1885–90; from Latin American Spanish, special use of Spanish central central 1

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 Fed president said the central bank should be prepared to address elevated inflation proactively so that it doesn’t get stuck near 3% in the long run.

From The Wall Street Journal

He too was left on the bench, though, as Clarke stuck with his more experienced central options.

From BBC

On a busy street in central Rome, 56-year-old Teresa is walking her dog among tourists and commuters rushing to work.

From BBC

“It was a central and safe place for everyone to retreat to whenever they need it,” the family wrote.

From Los Angeles Times

The central African nation has only played in the World Cup once before - in 1974 when the country was named Zaire.

From BBC

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.