SENSUAL Synonyms: 29 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'sensual' different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of sensual are animal , carnal , and fleshly . While all these words mean "having a relation to the body," 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

Q: When could 'animal' be used to replace 'sensual'?

Although the words animal and sensual have much in common, animal stresses the physical as distinguished from the rational nature of a person. // led a mindless animal existence

Q: When might 'carnal' be a better fit than 'sensual'?

In some situations, the words carnal and sensual are roughly equivalent. However, 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

Q: How are the words 'fleshly' and 'carnal' related as synonyms of 'sensual'?

Fleshly is less derogatory than carnal . // a saint who had experienced fleshly temptations

sensual

adjective

ˈsen(t)-sh(ə-)wəl

Definition of sensual next

as in sensuous

pleasing to the physical senses the sensual feel of a velvet shirt against the skin

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

Some common synonyms of sensual are animal, carnal, and fleshly. While all these words mean "having a relation to the body," 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

When could animal be used to replace sensual?

Although the words animal and sensual have much in common, animal stresses the physical as distinguished from the rational nature of a person.

led a mindless animal existence

When might carnal be a better fit than sensual?

In some situations, the words carnal and sensual are roughly equivalent. However, 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

How are the words fleshly and carnal related as synonyms of sensual?

Fleshly is less derogatory than carnal.

a saint who had experienced fleshly temptations

Examples Sentences

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Recent Examples of sensual In that way, these two installations privileged a kind of viewing that was sensual. —

The Artnews Awards Jury, ARTnews.com, 4 Dec. 2024 Genital-to-genital contact can be incredibly sensual and intimate for anybody. —

Adejoke Mason, Them, 3 Dec. 2024 Nader and Savchenko took the ballroom floor first, followed by Farber and Tran who showed off a sensual choreography. —

Dana Rose Falcone, People.com, 27 Nov. 2024 Baccarat Rouge 540 is a no-brainer, cozy yet sensual scent perfect for a night out. —

Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, 26 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for sensual

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sensual

Adjective

Such would-be scientific treatises in fact functioned more like manifestos, and decisively influenced Eliot and Ezra Pound’s generation to favor a poetics of the objective sensuous image over one of the dramatic declamatory mood.

Benjamin Kunkel, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
Based on what many consider to be one of the greatest Italian novels of all time, The Leopard is a dazzlingly sensuous epic, set against the backdrop of revolution in 1860s Sicily.

Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 19 Nov. 2024