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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 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 When all seems lost, a magical, fleshly reappearance defies death’s despair. Longreads, 14 Apr. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fleshly
Adjective
  • The people who had higher negativity bias were found to have reduced blood flow in the frontal, temporal and parietal lobes — regions critical for decision-making, memory and emotional regulation, according to Amen.
    Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 12 June 2025
  • Stories offer a generosity of space—temporal, emotional, political—that real-time clinical work does not.
    Danielle Ofri, New Yorker, 7 June 2025
Adjective
  • There isn’t any physical, material world in crypto.
    Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 3 June 2025
  • The environmental scientist will help check the quality of local rivers, lakes and streams by testing water for physical, chemical and biological factors.
    Angela Rodriguez, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2025
Adjective
  • Our favorite is Santal a La Vida, which takes the popular woody scent to a creamy, serene space that contrasts with the spicy, sensual scents it’s normally used for.
    Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 13 June 2025
  • Leslie Bibb Leslie Bibb took inspiration from suited styling with a sensual spin, wearing a minidress constructed with blazer elements.
    Julia Teti, Footwear News, 11 June 2025
Adjective
  • The house contorted even more, and once dinner was done, collecting laundry had become less mundane and more treacherous as violent, red flowers bloomed inside the home.
    Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 8 June 2025
  • Smart home systems that learn family patterns could create more opportunities for connection by managing mundane tasks and scheduling quality time.
    Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
Adjective
  • Djuna Bostick, 59, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and negligent child abuse by a willful act or omission causing serious bodily injury, according to the Hamlet Police Department.
    Olivia Lloyd, Charlotte Observer, 12 June 2025
  • Dale was charged with official oppression, a Class A misdemeanor, and Bean was charged with official oppression and injury to a child with intentional bodily injury, a third-degree felony.
    Samara Gerstle, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 June 2025
Adjective
  • But SpaceX has also had to build large ground stations around the world, known as gateways, to pipe data into space from the terrestrial Internet.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 11 June 2025
  • This model reshapes terrestrial manufacturing, enabling real-time diagnostics, predictive maintenance and rapid iteration.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 11 June 2025
Adjective
  • But in the earthly order, utility—usefulness for man—is the main determiner of value.
    Alejandro Antonio Chafuen, Forbes.com, 30 May 2025
  • The Assumption, proclaimed by Pius XII in 1950, is the doctrine that Mary was taken body and soul into heaven at the end of her earthly life.
    Dennis Doyle, The Conversation, 8 May 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

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Cite this Entry

“Fleshly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fleshly. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.

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