Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Relating to the physical body and its desires, especially those considered base or worldly: "fleshly" describes things pertaining to the body, its appetites, or sensual pleasures, often with a connotation of being non-spiritual or indulgent.
   • Worldly, not spiritual: It can also characterize concerns, interests, or pleasures that are of the physical world rather than the intellectual or spiritual realm.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • He struggled against his own fleshly desires. (He fought against his own physical, bodily desires.)
  • The monk sought to transcend fleshly concerns. (The monk aimed to rise above worldly, bodily concerns.)
  • The painting celebrated the fleshly beauty of the human form. (The painting celebrated the physical, sensual beauty of the human body.)

Advanced Usage

• "fleshly pleasures": pleasures derived from the body and senses.
  • He warned against the pursuit of fleeting fleshly pleasures.
• "fleshly weakness": a moral or physical failing attributed to the body's nature.
  • She viewed her impatience as a fleshly weakness.

Variants and Related Words

• Flesh (n): the soft substance of the body; the physical, often mortal, aspect of human existence.
  • The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
• Fleshy (adj): having a lot of flesh; plump. (Note: This is distinct from "fleshly," which relates to desires, not physical plumpness.)
  • a fleshy fruit

Synonyms

• Carnal: relating to physical, especially sexual, needs and activities.
• Sensual: relating to or involving gratification of the senses; physically pleasing.
• Bodily: of or relating to the body.
• Worldly: of or concerned with material values or ordinary life rather than spiritual affairs.

Antonyms

• Spiritual: relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.
• Intellectual: relating to the intellect or mind.
• Ascetic: characterized by severe self-discipline and abstention from indulgence.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "The flesh is weak": an expression acknowledging human vulnerability to physical temptations and desires.
  • I know I shouldn't eat the cake, but the flesh is weak.

Adjective

1. marked by the appetites and passions of the body
   • animal instincts
   • carnal knowledge
   • fleshly desire
   • a sensual delight in eating
   • music is the only sensual pleasure without vice