carnal

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car·nal

(kär′nəl)

adj.

1. Relating to the physical and especially sexual appetites: carnal desire.

2. Worldly or earthly; temporal: the carnal world.

3. Of or relating to the body or flesh; bodily: carnal remains.

[Middle English, from Old North French carnel, from Latin carnālis, from Latin carō, carn-, flesh; see sker- in Indo-European roots.]

car·nal′i·ty (kär-năl′ĭ-tē) n.

car′nal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

carnal

(ˈkɑːnəl)

adj

relating to the appetites and passions of the body; sensual; fleshly

[C15: from Late Latin: relating to flesh, from Latin carō flesh]

ˈcarnalist n

carˈnality n

ˈcarnally adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

car•nal

(ˈkɑr nl)

adj.

1. pertaining to or characterized by the passions and appetites of the flesh or body; sensual.

2. not spiritual; temporal; worldly.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Latin carnālis=carn-, s. of carō flesh + -ālis -al¹]

car•nal′i•ty, n.

car′nal•ly, adv.

syn: carnal, sensual, animal all refer to the physical rather than the rational or spiritual nature of human beings. carnal, although it may refer to any bodily need or urge, most often refers to sexuality: carnal knowledge; the carnal sin of gluttony. sensual most often describes the arousal or gratification of erotic urges: sensual eyes; sensual delights. animal may describe any physical appetite, but is sometimes used of sexual appetite: animal greediness; animal lust.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	carnal - marked by the appetites and passions of the body; "animal instincts"; "carnal knowledge"; "fleshly desire"; "a sensual delight in eating"; "music is the only sensual pleasure without vice" animal, fleshly, sensual physical - involving the body as distinguished from the mind or spirit; "physical exercise"; "physical suffering"; "was sloppy about everything but her physical appearance"
	2.	carnal - of or relating to the body or flesh; "carnal remains"

carnal

adjective sexual, animal, sexy (informal), fleshly, erotic, sensual, randy (informal, chiefly Brit.), steamy (informal), raunchy (slang), sensuous, voluptuous, lewd, wanton, amorous, salacious, prurient, impure, lascivious, lustful, lecherous, libidinous, licentious, unchaste Their passion became inflamed and their carnal desires ran wild.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

carnal

adjective

Relating to the desires and appetites of the body:

animal, fleshly, physical, sensual.

Translations

charnel

carnale

carnal

[ˈkɑːnl] ADJ (frm) → carnal
to have carnal knowledge of → tener conocimiento carnal de

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

carnal

adj → fleischlich, körperlich; carnal desires → sinnliche Begierden pl; carnal lusts → Fleischeslust f (liter); to have carnal knowledge of somebody → mit jdm (Geschlechts)verkehr haben

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

carnal

[ˈkɑːnl] adj → carnale

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

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References in classic literature ?

The minister almost wept with joy at this deliver- ance from the carnal desire to "peep" and went back to his own house praising God.

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be exposed to peculiar temptations, on account of the carnal desires which have heretofore subsisted between them."

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Or can any carnal appetite so overpower your reason, or so totally lay it asleep, as to prevent your flying with affright and terror from a crime which carries such punishment always with it?

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Now mine own affairs, which are of a spiritual kind and much more important than yours which are carnal, lie on the other side of this stream.

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These people of the remote future were strict vegetarians, and while I was with them, in spite of some carnal cravings, I had to be frugivorous also.

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"That's what carnal sin (peche de chair) leads to," she commented severely and passed her tongue over her thin lips.

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Francis into a white-hot hatred of the carnal. He could-not be as the saints and love the Infinite with a seraphic ardour, but he could be a little ashamed of loving a wife.

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``Friend wayfarer,'' replied the hermit, ``be not importunate; if thou puttest me to use the carnal weapon in mine own defence, it will be e'en the worse for you.''

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To project one's soul into some gracious form, and let it tarry there for a moment; to hear one's own intellectual views echoed back to one with all the added music of passion and youth; to convey one's temperament into another as though it were a subtle fluid or a strange perfume: there was a real joy in that--perhaps the most satisfying joy left to us in an age so limited and vulgar as our own, an age grossly carnal in its pleasures, and grossly common in its aims....

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She seemed like a nightmare of Lucy as she lay there, the pointed teeth, the blood stained, voluptuous mouth, which made one shudder to see, the whole carnal and unspirited appearance, seeming like a devilish mockery of Lucy's sweet purity.

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With one end in carnal combat he transfixed the enemies of his tribe; and with the other as a pastoral crook he kept in order his spiritual flock.

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Thine are of a carnal nature; mine are of a spiritual nature, a holy work, so to speak; moreover, mine affairs do lie upon the other side of this stream.