Meanings
- Present in a physical body; in person.
[S]he [Edwina, mother of Tennessee Williams] was indeed Amanda [Wingfield, character in Williams' play The Glass Menagerie] in the flesh: a doughty chatterbox from Ohio who adopted the manner of a Southern belle and eschewed both drink and sex to the greatest extent possible.
2014 November 14, Blake Bailey, “'Tennessee Williams,' by John Lahr [print version: Theatrical victory of art over life, International New York Times, 18 November 2014, p. 13]”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 02 Apr 2023Synonyms: in person, face to face, IRL
- especiallyChristianityincarnate (of God or a deity: having assumed an earthly body)
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phrasePresent in a physical body; in person.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivean appearance carried out personally in someone else's physical presence
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Catalan en car i òs, en persona
- en car i òswith one's own body and presence
- en personawith one's own body and presence
Chinese Mandarin 親自 /亲自
- 親自 /亲自 (qīnzì)with one's own body and presence
Danish i egen person
- i egen personwith one's own body and presence
Dutch persoonlijk, in levenden lijve
- persoonlijkwith one's own body and presence
- in levenden lijvewith one's own body and presence
Finnish ilmielävänä
- ilmielävänäwith one's own body and presence
French en personne, en chair et en os
- en personnewith one's own body and presence
- en chair et en oswith one's own body and presence
German im Fleische, fleischgeworden
- im Fleischeincarnate
- fleischgewordenincarnate
- aus Fleisch und Blutwith one's own body and presence
- in echtwith one's own body and presence
Greek αυτοπροσώπως, με σάρκα και οστά
- αυτοπροσώπως (aftoprosópos)with one's own body and presence
- με σάρκα και οστά (me sárka kai ostá)with one's own body and presence
Italian in carne ed ossa
- in carne ed ossawith one's own body and presence
Japanese 直々に
- 直々に (jikijiki ni)with one's own body and presence
Korean 스스로
- 스스로 (seuseuro)with one's own body and presence
Polish we własnej osobie
- we własnej osobiewith one's own body and presence
Portuguese em pessoa, em carne e osso
- em pessoawith one's own body and presence
- em carne e ossowith one's own body and presence
Russian во плоти́, ли́чно
- во плоти́ (vo plotí)with one's own body and presence
- ли́чно (líčno)with one's own body and presence
- со́бственной персо́ной (sóbstvennoj persónoj)with one's own body and presence
Spanish en carne y hueso, en persona
- en carne y huesowith one's own body and presence
- en personawith one's own body and presence
Swedish i egen hög person
- i egen hög personwith one's own body and presence
Cite this entry
in the flesh. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20flesh
“in the flesh.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20flesh. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in the flesh,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20flesh.
Source: in the flesh on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.