fleshly

adjective

flesh·​ly ˈflesh-lē 

1

a

: corporeal, bodily

b

: of, relating to, or characterized by indulgence of bodily appetites

especially : lascivious

fleshly desires

c

: not spiritual : worldly

2

: fleshy sense 1a

3

: having a sensuous quality

fleshly art

Synonyms

• carnal
• earthborn
• earthbound
• earthly
• material
• mundane
• sublunary
• temporal
• terrene
• terrestrial
• worldly

Choose the Right Synonym for fleshly

carnal, fleshly, sensual, animal mean having a relation to the body.

carnal may mean only this but more often connotes derogatorily an action or manifestation of a person's lower nature.

gave in to carnal desires

fleshly is less derogatory than carnal.

a saint who had experienced fleshly temptations

sensual may apply to any gratification of a bodily desire or pleasure but commonly implies sexual appetite with absence of the spiritual or intellectual.

fleshpots providing sensual delights

animal stresses the physical as distinguished from the rational nature of a person.

led a mindless animal existence

Examples of fleshly in a Sentence

a time of year when people shouldn't focus on fleshly concerns, but instead on spiritual matters

the fleshly eye sees the only finished painting, but the mind's eye sees the genius behind its creation

Recent Examples on the Web

What the world desires, in short, is a glimpse of a video game, which no one will be able to play until 2025—a game that builds an entire alternative world, glowing with the promise of violence and other fleshly thrills. —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2023

But the album offers more than deliciously hedonistic thrills: Thrusting us into their operatic world, this Brooklyn band makes peace with their dark memories and fleshly desires. —Pitchfork, 6 Dec. 2023

When another girl, Addie (Mia Pak), tries to explain Jesus’ status as the Son of God—fully fleshly and fully divine—as the meeting of horizontal and vertical lines at the overlapping center of a Venn diagram, Beatrice fisks the idea earnestly. —Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2022

The grateful nutcracker becomes a living prince and leads Clara through a spinning snowstorm of ballerinas to a sugary kingdom where flamenco-style dancers spin with twisting torsos and entwining arms as fleshly embodiments of Spanish chocolate. —Sarah L. Kaufman, Washington Post, 25 Nov. 2022

There is a leveling effect to his approach, one that allows About Endlessness to find grandeur in the smallest of everyday moments while also highlighting the fallible, fleshly absurdity of even history’s most outsize figures. —Alison Willmore, Vulture, 30 Apr. 2021

They were tempted by curiosity and hunger, by fleshly desires. —Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, The New Yorker, 18 Jan. 2021

When all seems lost, a magical, fleshly reappearance defies death’s despair. —Longreads, 14 Apr. 2020

Our fleshly forms evolved to work within the tug of gravity. —National Geographic, 12 June 2019

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

fleshly

adjective

flesh·​ly ˈflesh-lē 

1

: corporeal, bodily

2

: worldly sense 1

3

: sensual sense 1