1
as in temporal
having to do with life on earth especially as opposed to that in heaven
a time of year when people shouldn't focus on fleshly concerns, but instead on spiritual matters
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2
as in physical
of or relating to the human body
the fleshly eye sees the only finished painting, but the mind's eye sees the genius behind its creation
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in sensual
pleasing to the physical senses
returning campers looking forward to all the fleshly pleasures of home, including warm baths
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Recent Examples of fleshly
Murderbot has been realized in fleshly form in the sculpted body of Alexander Skarsgård, on the new Apple TV+ series of the same name.
—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 13 June 2025
That was the thing about Succession — its characters were monstrous, but the show never lost sight of their fleshly fallibility, their doubts and vulnerabilities.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 31 May 2025
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
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 13 June 2025
That was the thing about Succession — its characters were monstrous, but the show never lost sight of their fleshly fallibility, their doubts and vulnerabilities.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 31 May 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fleshly
Adjective
-
Generally, Proverbs-Job-Ecclesiastes can be viewed as a temporal trilogy reflecting certainty about wealth and health type rewards in this life for righteousness, with a transition to questioning any such connection, and then cynicism.—
Walt Shelton,
Austin American Statesman,
2 July 2025
-
In recent years, the editors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists have added factors ranging from climate change to artificial intelligence into their temporal calculus.—
Jonathon Keats,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
Adjective
-
This year, Boissy was visibly in the best physical condition of his career, armed with a different mental approach to the game that fuelled his MVP run.—
Sindiswa Mabunda,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
-
Creating spaces — physical or digital — that evoke deep emotional connection builds loyalty that no marketing funnel can replicate.—
Sudhir Gupta,
Rolling Stone,
9 July 2025
Adjective
-
Joined by four extremely sensual dancers, Starr powered through her hits, fully choreographed and vocally impressive.—
jsonline.com,
jsonline.com,
4 July 2025
-
To preserve two years worth of wartime love letters that are frisky, sensual, imaginative and, above all, honest.—
Michael Barnes,
Austin American Statesman,
2 July 2025
Adjective
-
Smiling, eye contact and small talk should be kept to a minimum and be strictly mundane.—
Judith Martin,
Sun Sentinel,
12 July 2025
-
There will, of course, be speculation that the Microsoft Outlook outage is cyberattack related, but the reality is likely to be more mundane.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
Of the threats of bodily harm and even death to men who got in the way.—
Marco della Cava,
USA Today,
3 July 2025
-
Aren’t dino farms, in which the poor creatures are kept alive just to be drained of their precious bodily fluids, the next step?—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
1 July 2025
Adjective
-
Flying drones may avoid some problems navigating terrestrial obstacles and potentially be less intrusive and faster.—
Phillip Molnar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 July 2025
-
As a result, Martian dust devils can be thrice as large as their terrestrial analogues.—
Unnati Ashar,
Space.com,
2 July 2025
Adjective
-
The moon is not the only thing that can shorten earthly days.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
9 July 2025
-
For those in the New Apostolic Reformation, these flags symbolize the belief that when all earthly authority fails, people have the right to appeal directly to God’s authority to justify resistance.—
Art Jipson,
The Conversation,
8 July 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
Cite this Entry
“Fleshly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fleshly. Accessed 17 Jul. 2025.
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