carnal

[ kahr-nl ]

See synonyms for: carnal carnality carnalness on Thesaurus.com

adjective

pertaining to or characterized by the flesh or the body, its passions and appetites; sensual: carnal pleasures.
not spiritual; merely human; temporal; worldly: a man of secular, rather carnal, leanings.

Origin of carnal

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin carnālis, equivalent to carn- (stem of carō ) “flesh” + -ālis -al¹

synonym study For carnal

1. Carnal, sensual, fleshly, animal all refer to bodily rather than rational or spiritual aspects of humans. Carnal, although it may refer to the body as opposed to the spirit, often refers to sexual needs or urges: carnal cravings, attractions, satisfactions. Sensual implies a suggestion of eroticism: sensual eyes; a sensual dance; it may also refer to experience of the senses: a sensual delight. Fleshly may refer to any physical need or appetite, sex as well as hunger and thirst: the fleshly sin of gluttony; fleshly yearnings. Animal refers to sexual appetites in a censorious way only; it may also describe pleasing or admirable physical characteristics or appearance: animal lust; to move with animal grace.

Other words for carnal

1	bodily, lustful, lecherous, lascivious, libidinous, concupiscent
2	earthly, natural

See synonyms for carnal on Thesaurus.com

Other words from carnal

car·nal·i·ty [kahr-nal-i-tee], /ˌkɑrˈnæl ɪ ti/, car·nal·ness, car·nal·ism, noun
car·nal·ly, adverb
hy·per·car·nal, adjective
hy·per·car·nal·ly, adverb

Words Nearby carnal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use carnal in a sentence

Despite this, some have had a deep impact on me, to the point that we consider ourselves “brothers” or “carnal,” as Central Americans call their brothers.
Locked up in the Land of Liberty: Part II | Michael K. Lavers | July 14, 2021 | Washington Blade
The heterosexuality of some who have been confined in a prison for many years, surrounded by only testosterone, can succumb to the carnal desires of whoever is able to satisfy them.
Locked up in the Land of Liberty: Part II | Michael K. Lavers | July 14, 2021 | Washington Blade
Several comrades have succumbed to their most carnal desires and have found in Britany the ideal solution to alleviate forced celibacy.
Locked up in the Land of Liberty: Part I | Yariel Valdés González | July 7, 2021 | Washington Blade
The trendily spruced-up Meatpacking District, notorious once upon a time as a carnal marketplace, beckons the theater world with director Moisés Kaufman’s thematically resonant if erratic production of “Seven Deadly Sins.”
Ann Dowd, the twisted Aunt Lydia of ‘Handmaid’s Tale,’ beguiles in a new take on Ibsen’s ‘Enemy of the People’ | Peter Marks | July 1, 2021 | Washington Post
Birkin whisper-sings with carnal reverie and eventually breaks out into orgasmic moans.
Jane Birkin is back with a new album, but her presence is everlasting | Jeff Weiss | March 19, 2021 | Washington Post

With all due respect to his athletic skill, Gronkowski is not high on the list of NFL players that elicit carnal thoughts.
‘A Gronking to Remember’ Speed Read: 8 Naughtiest Bits | Emily Shire | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
What if an affair is a process of positive self-discovery rather than selfish carnal impulses?
Why You’re Happily Married and Having an Affair | Ryan Selzer | November 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
That play eventually became the movie carnal Knowledge, directed by Mike Nichols.
The Climax of ‘Portnoy’s Complaint’ | Robert Hofler | May 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Her stories memorably show carnal relations as a means to a vicious end.
Flannery O’Connor’s Desire for God | Jen Vafidis | November 13, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
More so, in fact, than any number of salacious carnal details.
Lisa Baron's Salacious Memoir | Michelle Goldberg | June 13, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
Charges of unlawful carnal knowledge or indecent assault arise, for the most part, from complaints made by females.
Report of the Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents | Oswald Chettle Mazengarb et al.
If you examine them about spiritual matters, you will find them merely carnal.
The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VIII (of X) - Continental Europe II. | Various
I prayed that the many evils I felt within might be done away, and that I might be weaned from my former carnal acquaintances.
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African | Olaudah Equiano
And the sly carnal wisdom of the advice, no less than the charity which made it practicable, left a good taste in the mouth.
Notes of a Camp-Follower on the Western Front | E. W. Hornung
David groaned to find that such carnal motives could have influence upon the mind of a powerful preacher.
The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Volume 2, Illustrated | Sir Walter Scott

British Dictionary definitions for carnal

carnal

/ (ˈkɑːnəl) /

adjective

relating to the appetites and passions of the body; sensual; fleshly

Origin of carnal

C15: from Late Latin: relating to flesh, from Latin carō flesh

Derived forms of carnal

carnalist, noun
carnality, noun
carnally, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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