Fleshly
adj, adv ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Of or relating to the body.
"[…] in the body of this fleshly land, This kingdom, this confine of blood and breath, Hostility and civil tumult reigns Between my conscience and my cousin’s death."
- 2 Of, relating to or resembling flesh; composed of flesh; having a lot of flesh.
"[…] lay on load enough vpon e’m, and spare e’m not, for the’re good plump fleshly Asses, and may well enough beare it:"
- 3 Of or relating to pleasurable (often sexual) sensations.
"[…] abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul."
- 4 Of or relating to non-spiritual or non-religious matters.
"[…] in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world […]"
- 1 marked by the appetites and passions of the body wordnet
- 1 In a sensual way; in a sexual way; carnally. archaic
"Syr said Launcelot ye saye that that good knyȝt is my sone That ouȝtest thow to knowe and no man better said the good man / For thow knewest the doughter of kyng Pelles flesshely / and on her thow begattest Galahad / And that was he that at the feest of Pentecost satte in the sege peryllous"
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Abstain from fleshly and worldly lusts."
Etymology
From Middle English fleschly, from Old English flǣsċlīċ; equivalent to flesh + -ly.
From Middle English fleschly, from Old English flǣsċlīċe; equivalent to flesh + -ly.
More for "fleshly"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.