carnality

American  

[kahr-nal-i-tee] / ˌkɑrˈnæl ɪ ti /

Rarely carnalism

noun

1. preoccupation with, or indulgence in, the flesh or the body and its passions and appetites; sensuality.

   Giving in to the lures of carnality—whether that means porn or real-life promiscuity—is damaging to everyone concerned.

2. the quality or state of being merely temporal or worldly; lack of spiritual vitality or maturity.

   Complaints about salary, jealousy, ambition for a reputation, and other forms of carnality show how little we ministers are separated from the world.

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Etymology

Origin of carnality

First recorded in 1400–1450; carnal ( def. ) + -ity ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

carnality

His songs married carnality and spirituality, with an echo of the little boy singing in the gospel choir of his father’s church.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025

Now, what you’ve got is something closer to the colorblind wish fulfillment of the Shonda Rhimes streaming universe, minus the wink-wink, side-eye and carnality.

From New York Times ● May 24, 2023

Purcell’s stripped-down staging rarely visualizes Rivera’s depiction of a disintegrating city, redirecting focus to the dialogue’s poetic carnality, with everyone constantly worrying whether they’ll eat or be eaten.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2021

In O’Connor’s fictional world, carnality, when it comes up at all, is brutal and hilariously symbolic.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 22, 2001

Men struggle for redemption from this world and from carnality, and long to soar through the series of the heavens, so as to come before the face of the highest God, there 104to live forever.

From Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals by William Graham Sumner

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