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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 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 Translating carnal attraction, magnetism, and deepening desire, Ropion says the fragrance is ripe with a flower that refuses to go unnoticed: tuberose. Essence, 24 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for carnal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for carnal
Adjective
  • One of the more mundane-yet-fascinating categories requiring significant upgrades was and is positional precision or, in other words, the understanding of the vehicle’s location versus a global map.
    Steve Tengler, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
  • The joke density is lethally calibrated between the writing, direction, performances, reactions, and heightened absurdity of any mundane situation.
    Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The iPhone 17 is set to be the fourth gen of Apple smartphones without a physical SIM card slot in the US.
    PC Magazine, PC Magazine, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Even today, thousands of its physical records are stored in former limestone mines in Missouri and Pennsylvania.
    Eli Hager, ProPublica, 8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • His relationship with Algeria is sensual.
    Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Reading for so many of the tech-pilled among us is merely a method by which to upload bullet points to your brain, rather than a sensual endeavor that allows you to get caught up in someone else’s story.
    Maris Kreizman August 28, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Context requires holding multiple layers of reality simultaneously—the organizational politics, cultural dynamics, personal histories, and temporal factors that shape every interaction.
    Michael Hudson, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • This pair of daring temporal adventurers makes hops, skips, and jumps along the time stream with Sam popping up randomly into different bodies throughout history.
    Jeff Spry, Space.com, 24 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • The virus, which is spread by bodily fluids, is endemic in animal populations in Central and West Africa, and there are periodic outbreaks.
    Ben Smith, semafor.com, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Chernyak, who came to the US last August, was arrested in January and charged with battery with bodily harm over what his common-law wife Oksana Tarasiuk told CNN was a misunderstanding exacerbated by a language barrier with police officers.
    Isabelle Chapman, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Stern, who is 71, first signed with Sirius in 2004 (prior to its merger with XM), in part to be free of oversight by the FCC, which had levied millions of dollars in fines on terrestrial radio stations that carried his show for alleged indecency.
    Todd Spangler, Variety, 4 Sep. 2025
  • The ideal case would be to find a terrestrial meteorite containing organic molecules, or conceivably micro-fossils, from a time that Earth’s own geological record has not preserved, says Crawford.
    Bruce Dorminey, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 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
  • It was once widely believed throughout Europe that stars produced an ethereal fluid that somehow influenced earthly affairs.
    Martha Barnette August 6, Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2025
  • Most scientists with relevant expertise suspected the specimen had been contaminated with earthly life, which is the consensus today.
    F.D. Flam, Twin Cities, 6 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Carnal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/carnal. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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