Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Relating to, situated in, or affecting the viscera.
- adjective Being or arising from impulse or sudden emotion rather than from thought or deliberation: synonym: instinctive.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of or pertaining to the viscera; having the character of a viscus; forming or containing viscera; interior or intestinal, as a part or organ of the body; splanchnic: as, visceral anatomy; a visceral cavity; visceral disease; the visceral loop of the nerves of a mollusk; the visceral as distinguished from the reflected or parietal layer of a serous membrane.
- Belonging to or situated on that side of the body of a vertebrate which contains the viscera of the thorax; abdominal; ventral or hemal, as distinguished from
dorsal or neural.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Anat.) Of, pertaining to, or affecting the viscera; splanchnic.
- adjective rare Fig.: Having deep sensibility.
- adjective proceeding from emotion or instinct rather than from intellect; deeply emotional; -- .
- adjective dealing with coarse or base emotions; -- .
- adjective (Anat.) the bars or ridges between the visceral clefts.
- adjective (Anat.) the ventral cavity of a vertebrate, which contains the alimentary canal, as distinguished from the dorsal, or cerebro-spinal, canal.
- adjective (Anat.) transverse clefts on the sides just back of the mouth in the vertebrate embryo, which open into the pharyngeal portion of the alimentary canal, and correspond to the branchial clefts in adult fishes.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective anatomy Of or relating to the
viscera —internal organs of the body;splanchnic . - adjective Having to do with the response of the
body as opposed to theintellect , as in the distinction betweenfeeling andthinking .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective obtained through intuition rather than from reasoning or observation
- adjective relating to or affecting the viscera
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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This is the disruption or abnormal stimulation of the inner ear's vestibular system by turbine infrasound and low-frequency noise, the most distinctive feature of which is a group of symptoms which she calls visceral vibratory vestibular disturbance, or VVVD.
PrairiePundit 2009
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The detail of the interactions between the badly paid women, their resentful families, the loan sharks, the exploitative employers, and the distant forces of law and order, are all depicted in visceral detail.
On being lobbied nwhyte 2010
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In the article, Boroom talks about an article, "Role for protease activity in visceral pain in irritable bowel syndrome", by Nicolas Cenac.
Solving the Mystery of IBS Steve Carper 2008
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If the live versions lacked the suppleness and textural variety of the recording, they made up for that in visceral punch.
Berlin in Lights: Is There Pop After Weimar? - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2007
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"The Tarantino, by contrast, has flashes of interest and eventually achieves a certain visceral impact, but it's long-winded and juvenile, the work of a director who hasn't grown and, what's more, seems afraid to try."
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If the live versions lacked the suppleness and textural variety of the recording, they made up for that in visceral punch.
Berlin in Lights: Is There Pop After Weimar? - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2007
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What I think is going on is a certain visceral fear of something un-American creeping into the discourse of American constitutionalism.
Balkinization 2003
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What I think is going on is a certain visceral fear of something un-American creeping into the discourse of American constitutionalism.
Balkinization 2003
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Recounted in visceral, kinetic prose, and crafted with a forthrightness that rejects piety, cynicism, and self-pity, it brings us face-to-face with a provocative new understanding of the nature of addiction and the meaning of recovery.
A Million Little Pieces: Summary and book reviews of A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. 2003
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There's something I call the visceral level of processing.
whichbe commented on the word visceral
"The Gut" -- belly chakra -- intuition.
December 17, 2008
gregmiller commented on the word visceral
Characterized by instinct rather than intellect; earthy or crude
December 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word visceral
viceral, gut and this video are tightly intertwined in my mind.
December 24, 2008
seanahan commented on the word visceral
A much better word than gutty, or the phrase "goes with his gut".
January 2, 2009