Definition of fleshlynext
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Synonym Chooser

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

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

a saint who had experienced fleshly temptations

When might animal be a better fit than fleshly?

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

led a mindless animal existence

When is carnal a more appropriate choice than fleshly?

While in some cases nearly identical to fleshly, 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 would sensual be a good substitute for fleshly?

Although the words sensual and fleshly have much in common, 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 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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fleshly
Adjective
  • In this example the information is temporal, slight, and of little broad use.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 23 Jan. 2026
  • It’s shaped around facial proportions, temporal corners, and the way hair naturally grows.
    Wyles Daniel, USA Today, 20 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • Possession of a Starlink terminal now carries the threat of a prison sentence, and there have been reports of a physical crackdown on homes and rooftops where satellite receivers have been spotted.
    Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 30 Jan. 2026
  • Anything that would jeopardize an active federal investigation, and finally, anything that depicts or contain images of death, physical abuse or injury also not produced.
    Rachel Wolf, FOXNews.com, 30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • Angela is known for her confident, no-nonsense attitude and her sensual style, often seen on-screen in bikinis, or other tight, revealing and provocative outfits.
    Lori A Bashian, FOXNews.com, 1 Feb. 2026
  • The experimental romantic comedy mixes sensual 16mm shots with intimate dialogue.
    Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 31 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • Last spring, my colleague Elaine Godfrey wrote about finding joy in mundane places.
    Isabel Fattal, The Atlantic, 24 Jan. 2026
  • Product breadth is huge, some customer tasks may be highly technical, others mundane but requiring accuracy, and others still are more about look and feel.
    Mark Faithfull, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • In November 2025, a jury found Taylor and Brothwell guilty of two felony counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances and two felony counts of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death.
    Chelsea Hylton, CBS News, 2 Feb. 2026
  • Salazarmontano also admitted sentencing enhancements for fleeing the scene of a vehicular manslaughter and inflicting great bodily injury on the victim.
    City News Service, Oc Register, 1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
  • Unlike terrestrial settings, space missions expose machines to vacuum conditions, microgravity, extreme temperature swings, and high levels of radiation, pushing robotic systems far beyond conventional operating limits, reports CNEVPost.
    Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 27 Jan. 2026
  • These are great for aerial, maritime, underwater and some terrestrial applications, and are maturing in terms of SWaP (Size, Weight and Power), cost and platform noise mitigation.
    Sabbir Rangwala, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • For reasons still not wholly understood, these ultradense objects—each about the mass of our star squeezed into a bizarre, city-sized ball of degenerate quantum matter—undergo starquakes in which the material on the surface shifts a bit like in an earthly tremor.
    Phil Plait, Scientific American, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Other earthly assets are protected in other ways.
    Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 20 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • Not quite plant, not quite animal; delicious and wild and rare.
    Callie Sumlin, Bon Appetit Magazine, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Perhaps unsurprisingly, dogs were more likely to respond to animal stimuli than to non-animal stimuli.
    Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Fleshly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fleshly. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.

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