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Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of carnal are animal, fleshly, and sensual. While all these words 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.

a slave to carnal desires

When can animal be used instead of carnal?

While the synonyms animal and carnal are close in meaning, animal stresses the physical as distinguished from the rational nature of a person.

led a mindless animal existence

How do fleshly and carnal relate to one another?

Fleshly is less derogatory than carnal.

a saint who had experienced fleshly temptations

When is it sensible to use sensual instead of carnal?

While in some cases nearly identical to carnal, 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

Example 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 carnal Decades later, Erika bears a carnal attraction to her Uncle Fritz (Martin Rother), an amputee who lies withering in pain in his bedroom. Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 14 May 2025 But the texting and blocking, the free-for-all backwaters of the internet and the carnal shenanigans that color contemporary TV teendom do put a different complexion on growing up. Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2025 Miranda, specifically, is in the middle of a three-month break from carnal knowledge. Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 25 Apr. 2025 Modern filmmaking gets no better than Hernández’s balance of carnal and mundane conduct — Marco and Orlando’s physical yearning matches their career ambitions. Armond White, National Review, 25 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for carnal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for carnal
Adjective
  • Now, many employers are looking to harness the power of AI—initially for mundane and repetitive tasks and eventually for more complicated jobs—to reduce the need to maintain the same level of human staffers on their payrolls.
    Jason Del Rey, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2025
  • The remarkable video that injects divisive politics into the mundane process of airport security has sparked controversy as many airports refuse to show it.
    Alexandra Skores, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Ethernet uses a physical cable that connects your computer directly to the router.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2025
  • Despite its name, the condition, which has yet to be formally recognized, is often also paired with emotional, cognitive and physical dysfunction.
    Kristen Rogers, CNN Money, 12 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Frankincense and resins open the composition, mingling with tonka and vanilla bean for a sensual, sophisticated, and addictive aroma that invites you to linger beside a boutique hotel’s flickering fireplace on a cold night.
    Michael Stefanov, Robb Report, 14 Oct. 2025
  • Even without the models, the sample runway light show was sensual, inviting, synced with pulsing music.
    Evan Clark, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • This temporal displacement frees Pynchon to offer sidelong commentary on contemporary politics without getting trapped in the flux of the present or being too on the nose.
    Jack Denton, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2025
  • To practice ‘future temporal focused’ networking, create a timetable and ask yourself key questions.
    Sarah Maokosy, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Sanchez is facing a level 5 felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury charge and three misdemeanor charges, battery resulting in injury, public intoxication, and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle.
    Noe Padilla, IndyStar, 12 Oct. 2025
  • The rhythms of the menstrual cycle often reflect balance in other bodily systems and functions.
    Megan Feringa, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Unistellar plans to have over 1 million terrestrial points of interest added to its database, with Envision including real-time altitude, distance and azimuth data into the display.
    Tariq Malik, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2025
  • He was instantly hooked by Channel 4’s weekly NFL coverage following the terrestrial channel’s launch in 1982.
    Peter Carline, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • In 2022, the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 paved the way for alternatives to animal testing, and in December 2023, an NIH advisory committee made similar recommendations to develop non-animal methods.
    Rachel Fobar, Vox, 14 May 2025
  • Rendering is a process that transforms animal by-products, like leftover meat and fats...and yes, chicken feet, into usable materials, such as animal feed, fuel, and other industrial products.
    Phil Kafarakis, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
Adjective
  • In early Christian thinking, its connotations of languor and listlessness, within the spirit no less than the body, lent it the status of a sin—a turning aside from God for the sake of earthly sorrow.
    Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
  • Ordinary matter makes up everything from the cosmic (planets and stars) to the earthly (people and trees).
    Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 13 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Carnal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/carnal. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.

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