SENSUAL Synonyms: 29 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'sensual' different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of sensual are animal , carnal , and fleshly . While all these words mean "having a relation to the body," 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

Q: When could 'animal' be used to replace 'sensual'?

Although the words animal and sensual have much in common, animal stresses the physical as distinguished from the rational nature of a person. // led a mindless animal existence

Q: When might 'carnal' be a better fit than 'sensual'?

In some situations, the words carnal and sensual are roughly equivalent. However, carnal may mean only this but more often connotes derogatorily an action or manifestation of a person's lower nature. // a slave to carnal desires

Q: How are the words 'fleshly' and 'carnal' related as synonyms of 'sensual'?

Fleshly is less derogatory than carnal . // a saint who had experienced fleshly temptations

sensual

adjective

ˈsen(t)-sh(ə-)wəl

Definition of sensual next

as in sensuous

pleasing to the physical senses the sensual feel of a velvet shirt against the skin

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word sensual different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of sensual are animal, carnal, and fleshly. While all these words mean "having a relation to the body," 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

When could animal be used to replace sensual?

Although the words animal and sensual have much in common, animal stresses the physical as distinguished from the rational nature of a person.

led a mindless animal existence

When might carnal be a better fit than sensual?

In some situations, the words carnal and sensual are roughly equivalent. However, carnal may mean only this but more often connotes derogatorily an action or manifestation of a person's lower nature.

a slave to carnal desires

How are the words fleshly and carnal related as synonyms of sensual?

Fleshly is less derogatory than carnal.

a saint who had experienced fleshly temptations

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of sensual But then that other, sensual, erotic world is connected to this evil force, which only increases her shame. —

Megan McCluskey, TIME, 23 Dec. 2024 The result is an unfamiliar and deeply sensual aural clash of whistles, clicks, and consonants, each molded and metamorphosed by their enveloping fungal tissue. —

Mariana Fernández, ARTnews.com, 18 Dec. 2024 The scent is sensual, warm, and a sophisticated, unisex fragrance that feels timeless and mysterious. —

Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 18 Dec. 2024 Her first collection for the brand bowed in September last year during Paris Fashion Week, reigniting the label with her quietly sensual designs. —

Lily Templeton, WWD, 12 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for sensual

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sensual

Adjective

Spicy and sensuous, the woody spicy scent features notes of incense and black pepper.

Celia Shatzman, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
Such would-be scientific treatises in fact functioned more like manifestos, and decisively influenced Eliot and Ezra Pound’s generation to favor a poetics of the objective sensuous image over one of the dramatic declamatory mood.

Benjamin Kunkel, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024