mental
Pluralmentals (some meanings)
- 1Of, relating to, or happening in the mind, such as thoughts, memories, and the mind's processes.
He ran through a quick mental checklist before the interview.
Years later, she could still call up a vivid mental image of her grandmother's kitchen.
UsageCommon in set phrases: make a mental note, form a mental image or picture, run through a mental checklist.
Note
Behind every psychological use stands Late Latin mentālis, built on mēns, a word that covered not only the mind but disposition, heart and soul. That breadth survives here: the sense takes in feeling as well as thought, which is why inner and psychological sit close by, and why Philip Selwyn could condemn society figures for "mental cirrhosis" in Robert W. Chambers's The Younger Set (1907).
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- The psychological senses of mental derive ultimately from Late Latin mentālis, formed from Latin mēns. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin mēns could mean mind, disposition, heart and soul. apcentral.collegeboard.org
- Robert W. Chambers wrote The Younger Set, published in 1907. gutenberg.org
- The phrase mental cirrhosis occurs in The Younger Set. gutenberg.org
- The speaker is the fictional Philip Selwyn, addressing his sister Nina. He explicitly limits his criticism to a small proportion of her friends. gutenberg.org
- 2Relating to illness of the mind, or to the care and treatment of people who have such an illness.
The clinic screens new patients for common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety.
After the accident he struggled with his mental health for years.
UsageMost often in mental health, mental illness and mental disorder, and in care phrases such as mental health services.
- 3Involving thinking and the intellect, as opposed to physical activity or to feelings.
Air traffic control is demanding work, but the strain is mental rather than physical.
She balanced the mental labor of coding with long evening runs.
UsageOften set against the body: mental and physical, mental rather than physical.
Less common meanings
- 4Affected by a disorder of the mind; insane, mad, or crazy.
The neighbors said he'd gone mental, talking to himself in the garden at all hours.
You'd have to be mental to swim in the sea in January.
UsageOften in go mental, meaning lose control or fly into a rage: he went mental at us.
Similarmad, crazy, insane, nuts, bonkers
Oppositesane
- 5Extremely enjoyable or exciting, especially in a wild or frenetic way.
The gig in Manchester was absolutely mental, the best night of the tour.
Our week in Ibiza was mental: we danced on the beach every night and loved every minute.
UsageUsually about events such as a party, a gig or a night out, often with absolutely: it was absolutely mental.
Note
The approving twin of the "crazy" sense, heard in the same British, Irish, Australian and New Zealand speech but without the North American life. A mental party is wild in the best way.
- 6Relating to telepathic or mind-reading powers, such as those described in science fiction.
The novel's protagonist establishes mental contact with her captors before she ever sees them.
In the novel, the colonists slowly develop mental powers that let them share thoughts across great distances.
Similartelepathic, psychic
- 7Belonging to the realm of spirit or ideas rather than that of physical matter.
Idealist philosophers hold that reality is fundamentally mental rather than material.
Some philosophers divide reality into two kinds of substance, mental and physical, and ask how the two interact.
Similarspiritual
Oppositematerial
- 8A person's state of mind; an ellipsis of 'mental state'.
Daily runs and time off social media did wonders for her mental.
He said the constant travel was wrecking his mental, so he quit the tour.
UsageAlmost always after a possessive word: good for your mental, wrecking his mental. The plural your mentals means the same.
Similarheadspace
- 9An offensive term for a person with an intellectual disability.
Witnesses heard the man shout that his neighbor was a mental before the fight broke out.
She winced when her grandfather called the children at the special school next door mentals.
UsageAn insult, not a description: never use it to refer to anyone, except when reporting what someone said.
- 10Relating to the chin or the median part of the lower jaw.
- 11Relating to a chinlike or liplike structure, such as the mentum of an insect or flower.
- 12A plate or scale covering the chin, or mentum, of a fish or reptile.
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Origin
Came into English from Middle French mental. Its source is Late Latin mentalis, made from mens ("mind, disposition; heart, soul") and -alis, a suffix that forms adjectives.