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Synonym Chooser

How is the word carnal different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of carnal are animal, fleshly, and sensual. While all these words mean "having a relation to the body," carnal may mean only this but more often connotes derogatorily an action or manifestation of a person's lower nature.

a slave to carnal desires

When can animal be used instead of carnal?

While the synonyms animal and carnal are close in meaning, animal stresses the physical as distinguished from the rational nature of a person.

led a mindless animal existence

How do fleshly and carnal relate to one another?

Fleshly is less derogatory than carnal.

a saint who had experienced fleshly temptations

When is it sensible to use sensual instead of carnal?

While in some cases nearly identical to carnal, sensual may apply to any gratification of a bodily desire or pleasure but commonly implies sexual appetite with absence of the spiritual or intellectual.

fleshpots providing sensual delights

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of carnal Or have lunch with the soused, stubbly old man (Gary Oldman) who keeps saying witty things and seems to have no carnal interest in her whatsoever. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2025 Music does in deed play a big role in the trailer, which shows off a rural Jim Crow Era South setting and sees Black people cutting loose in melodious and carnal celebration. Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Jan. 2025 There's two parts of us, our highest good, and then our carnal, material self. Daniela Avila, People.com, 28 Jan. 2025 The album’s best songs thread the needle carefully between carnal aches, pledges to weather relationship highs and lows, and conciliatory admissions that the singer-songwriter and producer doesn’t always make the best choices. Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 19 Mar. 2024 See All Example Sentences for carnal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for carnal
Adjective
  • The missing leaders come from the messy middle—those steadfast, seasoned managers navigating between visionary ambitions and everyday mundane execution—who determine if organizational change succeeds or fails.
    Dan Pontefract, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
  • So people are usually surprised to see Rahma capturing footage on the side, sometimes of a guest, the setup, or the mundane bits in between.
    CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • While the pneumonia infection has been successfully treated, Francis will continue to take oral medication for quite some time to treat the fungal infection in his lungs and continue his respiratory and physical physiotherapy.
    Danielle Wallace, Fox News, 23 Mar. 2025
  • The physical altercation happened earlier this month at Wallace Middle School in Waterbury, Connecticut.
    Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 23 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Bangs were not an overly popular style at the time, but the wisps that framed the face were usually worn wavy and curly as a nod to sensual softness of the Greek goddess Aphrodite.
    Irene Coltrinari, Vogue, 1 Apr. 2025
  • So are we supposed to read anything into the sensual, aquatic clip?
    Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Bill Murray got emotional talking about his old pal Bruce Willis, who has been battling frontal temporal dementia and aphasia for the past several years.
    Greg Evans, Deadline, 1 Apr. 2025
  • There are several astronomical functions, but the most entertaining one is the temporal tracking of celestial observations.
    Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Delaney was booked into the Marina del Rey Sheriff's Station at 10:15 a.m. and charged with assault, likely to produce gross bodily injury.
    Tracy Wright, FOXNews.com, 1 Apr. 2025
  • Burnett, then 21, of Hammond got ten years in prison in October after pleading guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 3 felony.
    Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Taking its name from a terrestrial kingfisher with a distinctive call, the Kookaburra is designed by Australian firm Unplgd Tiny Homes and is based on a triple-axle trailer and finished in wood, with metal accenting.
    Adam Williams, New Atlas, 30 Mar. 2025
  • As our predecessors became terrestrial and moved to dry, hot environments, salt became scarcer, and the craving for sodium likely developed as a survival mechanism to ensure adequate intake.
    Jenny Lehmann, Discover Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Ramping up surveillance Experts say the U.S. needs to boost its surveillance and detection systems now that there are more animal and human cases of D1.1.
    Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 14 Feb. 2025
  • However, they are immediately attacked by a ferocious creature that seems not fully animal, not fully human.
    EW.com, EW.com, 16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • That final choice encapsulates Colquhoun’s lack of interest in earthly fame.
    Eliza Goodpasture, ARTnews.com, 18 Mar. 2025
  • Williams and Wilmore and their crewmates exited Dragon, taking their first breaths of earthly air in months.
    Jackie Wattles, CNN, 18 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Carnal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/carnal. Accessed 6 Apr. 2025.

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