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Synonyms

fleshly

American  
[flesh-lee] / ˈflɛʃ li /

adjective

fleshlier, fleshliest
  1. of or relating to the flesh or body; bodily, corporeal, or physical.

  2. carnal; sensual.

    fleshly pleasures.

  3. worldly, rather than spiritual.

  4. having a sensuous quality.

    the fleshly poetry of the 17th century.

  5. Obsolete. having much flesh; fleshy.


fleshly British  
/ ˈflɛʃlɪ /

adjective

  1. relating to the body, esp its sensual nature; carnal

    fleshly desire

  2. worldly as opposed to spiritual

  3. fleshy; fat

"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

Synonym Usage

See carnal.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of fleshly

before 900; Middle English; Old English flǣsclic. See flesh, -ly

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

In early Christianity, spiritual warfare meant one was to resist the Devil by engaging in forms of ascetic behavior, mastering fleshly desires, and cultivating Christian virtues like humility, self-control, and love of enemies.

From Salon Jan. 31, 2024

“There were some fleshly remains and the odor was so foul,” the villager said.

From Seattle Times Dec. 29, 2021

But a pandemic re-corporealizes us all, re-rooting everyone, including men, in fleshly reality in all its precarity.

From New York Times Dec. 22, 2020

What if the fear of machines “like us” masks a deeper terror, the terror of machine agency that disdains language and exceeds fleshly containment?

From The New Yorker Apr. 15, 2019

His fleshly condition is called flesh and blood.

From The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church Containing the Sermones Catholici, or Homilies of ?lfric, in the Original Anglo-Saxon, with an English Version. Volume I. by Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham

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