sensual
[sen-shoo-uh l]
- pertaining to, inclined to, or preoccupied with the gratification of the senses or appetites; carnal; fleshly.
- lacking in moral restraints; lewd or unchaste.
- arousing or exciting the senses or appetites.
- worldly; materialistic; irreligious.
- of or relating to the senses or physical sensation; sensory.
- pertaining to the philosophical doctrine of sensationalism.
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Origin of sensual
Synonyms
See more synonyms for sensual on Thesaurus.com2. lascivious.
Synonym study
1. Sensual, sensuous, voluptuous refer to experience through the senses. Sensual refers, often unfavorably, to the enjoyments derived from the senses, especially from the gratification or indulgence of physical appetites: a sensual delight in eating; sensual excesses. Sensuous refers, favorably or literally, to what is experienced through the senses: sensuous impressions; sensuous poetry. Voluptuous implies the luxurious gratification of sensuous or sensual desires: voluptuous joys; voluptuous beauty. See also carnal.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sensually
Contemporary Examples
A beautiful, naked, self-confident woman, sensually cradling...a cod?
Historical Examples
For a moment the thought of her flung across the bed and weeping stirred him sensually.
Erik DornBen Hecht
She loved me intellectually and sensually, but not with the soul.
An Anarchist WomanHutchins Hapgood
It was as if her hands, sensually understanding, were reaching voluptuously for his heart.
NarcissusEvelyn Scott
The humor of it came home to her—that she should sensually feel the cold.
Ewing\'s LadyHarry Leon Wilson
They're utilizing virtue as a cloak for the sensually tantalizing discussion of immorality.
GargoylesBen Hecht
sensual
- of or relating to any of the senses or sense organs; bodily
- strongly or unduly inclined to gratification of the senses
- tending to arouse the bodily appetites, esp the sexual appetite
- of or relating to sensualism
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Word Origin
C15: from Late Latin sensuālis, from Latin sēnsus sense . Compare French sensuel, Italian sensuale
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for sensually
sensual
adj.
early 15c., "carnal, unspiritual;" mid-15c., "of or pertaining to the senses," from Middle French sensuel (15c.) and directly from Late Latin sensualis "endowed with feeling" (see sensuality). Meaning "connected with gratification of the senses," especially "lewd, unchaste" is attested from late 15c.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
sensual
(sĕn′shōō-əl)- Relating to or affecting any of the senses or a sense organ; sensory.
- Of, relating to, given to, or providing gratification of the physical and especially the sexual appetites.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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