Adsorption of phenol from aqueous solution onto cashew nut shell (CNS) was investigated to assess the possible use of this adsorbent. The influence of various parameters such as contact time, phenol concentration, adsorbent dose, pH, and temperature has been studied. Studies showed that the pH of aqueous solutions affected phenol removal as a result of decrease in removal efficiency with increasing solution pH. The experimental data were analysed by the Langmuir equation. Equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir model with maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 5.405 mg/g. Thermodynamic parameters such as Delta G degrees, Delta H degrees, and Delta S degrees have also been evaluated and it has been found that the sorption process was feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic in nature. The pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models were selected to follow the adsorption process. Kinetic parameters, rate constants, equilibrium sorption capacities and related correlation coefficients, for each kinetic model were calculated and discussed. It was shown that the adsorption of phenol could be described by the pseudo-second-order equation, suggesting that the adsorption process is presumable a chemisorption. The CNS investigated in this study showed good application potential for the removal of phenol from aqueous solution.