fleshly

comparative fleshlier · superlative fleshliest

1. Of or relating to the body.

   those inward pains that agonize us more than all our fleshly wounds

   1795, Richard Cumberland, chapter 7, in Henry, volume 3, London: Charles Dilly, page 58

   4 more examples

   […] 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.

   c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]

   […] to unfold What Worlds, or what vast Regions hold The immortal mind that hath forsook Her mansion in this fleshly nook:

   a. 1645, John Milton, “Il Penseroso”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 40

   When from their fleshly Bondage they are free, Then what divine, and future things they see!

   1668, John Denham, “The Progress of Learning, Part 3”, in Poems and Translations, with The Sophy, London: […] [John Macock] for H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC

   We shook hands—though I doubt if a mere fleshly contact can express much while the self behind it is dumb with instinctive distaste.

   1926, Walter de la Mare, “Missing”, in Best Stories of Walter de la Mare, London: Faber and Faber, published 1942, page 175

   Synonyms: bodily, corporeal

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:

   1608, Thomas Middleton, A Mad World, My Masters, London: Walter Burre, act II

   2 more examples

   1793, uncredited translator, The Natural History of Birds by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, London: A. Strahan, T. Cadell and J. Murray, Volume 2, pp. 52-53, In almost all birds, except the carnivorous kinds, the male seems to have more power of development, which appears in their greater height, the strength of their muscles, and in certain excrescences, as fleshly membranes, spurs, &c. […]

   He touched the leaves of some of the glossy bushes to find out whether they felt as fleshly as they looked. [At least one U.S. edition has fleshy]

   1970, Patrick White, chapter 1, in The Vivisector, London: Penguin, page 14

   Synonyms: fleshy

3. Of or relating to pleasurable (often sexual) sensations.

   […] abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Peter 2:11

   1 more example

   A wave of desire for furious fleshly enjoyments went through him, making him want steaming dishes of food drenched in rich, spice-flavored sauces; making him want to get drunk on strong wine; to roll on thick carpets in the arms of naked, libidinous women.

   1921, John Dos Passos, Three Soldiers, New York: Modern Library, published 1932, Part 4, Chapter 2, p. 238

   Synonyms: carnal, lascivious, sensual

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 […]

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 1:12

   1 more example

   Opposition may become sweet to a man when he has christened it persecution: a self-obtrusive, over-hasty reformer complacently disclaiming all merit, while his friends call him a martyr, has not in reality a career the most arduous to the fleshly mind.

   1857, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “[.] Chapter 8”, in Scenes of Clerical Life […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published January 1858, →OCLC

   Synonyms: secular, worldly · Antonyms: heavenly, spiritual

comparative more fleshly · superlative most fleshly

1. archaicIn a sensual way; in a sexual way; carnally.

   And the drunkard is with drink. And the ploughman is with his oxen. And the inhabitant of Ulverton doth loll fleshly abed.

   1992, Adam Thorpe, Ulverton, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, published 1994, page 24

   1 more example

   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

   1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “ij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XV