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visceral

American  
[vis-er-uhl] / ˈvɪs ər əl /

adjective

  1. of or relating to the viscera.

  2. affecting the viscera.

  3. of the nature of or resembling viscera.

  4. characterized by or proceeding from instinct rather than intellect.

    a visceral reaction.

  5. characterized by or dealing with coarse or base emotions; earthy; crude.

    a visceral literary style.
visceral British  
/ ˈvɪsərəl /

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or affecting the viscera

  2. characterized by intuition or instinct rather than intellect

"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

  • nonvisceral adjective
  • unvisceral adjective
  • viscerally adverb

Etymology

Origin of visceral

First recorded in 1565–75; from Medieval Latin viscerālis, equivalent to viscer(a) ( viscera ) + -ālis -al 1

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.