mental

MEN-tuhl/ˈmɛn.təl/

12 meanings of mental

1
mind in generaladjective
Happening in your mind or about your mind, like thoughts and memories.
Like a movie that plays only inside your head.
She made a mental note to buy milk on the way home.
Close your eyes and form a mental picture of the beach.
UsageOften in phrases like make a mental note or a mental picture.
Note
2
mind illnessadjective
About illness of the mind, or about caring for people who have it.
Talking to a counselor can help with mental health problems.
He took time off work because of a mental illness.
UsageMost often in mental health and mental illness.
3
adjective
Using your brain and thinking, not your body or your feelings.
Like a workout for your brain instead of your muscles.
Chess is a mental game, not a physical one.
Doing puzzles gives my grandmother good mental exercise.
UsageOften used with its opposite: mental and physical.
Oppositephysical, bodily

Less common meanings

4
crazyadjectivecolloquialAustraliaCanadaIrelandNew ZealandUK
Crazy, or having a sickness of the mind.
You must be mental to ride a bike in this storm.
The old man down the road went a bit mental after his wife died.
UsageOften in go mental, meaning get very angry or lose control.
Similarmad, crazy, insane, nuts, bonkers
Oppositesane
5
wild funadjectivecolloquialAustraliaIrelandNew ZealandUK
Very fun and exciting, in a wild and crazy way.
The party was mental, and everyone danced until three in the morning.
That ride was mental! Can we go again?
UsageUsually about events like a party or a night out: it was absolutely mental.
Similarwild, crazy, insane
Oppositetame, dull
Note
6
mind readingadjective
About powers of the mind, like reading thoughts or sending them to other people.
In the movie, the twins share a mental link and feel each other's pain.
In the story, the alien used a mental link to hear the boy's thoughts.
Similartelepathic, psychic
7
not materialadjective
About ideas, the mind, or the spirit, not physical things you can touch.
Some thinkers believe the world is mental at its deepest level, made of ideas, not things.
Love and hope belong to our mental life, not to the world of objects.
Similarspiritual
Oppositematerial
8
nounslanguncountable
Your state of mind. A short, casual word for mental state.
Getting enough sleep is good for your mental.
After the test, my mental was a mess for days.
UsageAlmost always with a word like my, your or her: good for your mental.
Similarheadspace
9
insultnounoffensiveIndiacountable
A very unkind and insulting name for a person with an intellectual disability.
The bullies called the new boy a mental until a teacher heard them.
"Stop calling your brother a mental," his mother snapped.
UsageThis is a very unkind name. Never call anyone this; only repeat it when telling what someone said.
10
adjective
Having to do with the chin or the middle of the lower jaw.
11
adjective
Having to do with a part of an animal or flower that looks like a chin or a lip.
12
noun
A flat scale on the chin of a fish, snake, or lizard.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle French mental, ultimately from Latin mens, meaning "mind."