fleshly

adj

1. Of or relating to the body.

   “[…] 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.”

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

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

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

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

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:”

   “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]”

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

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

   “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.”

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 […]”

   “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.”

adv

1. (archaic)In a sensual way; in a sexual way; carnally.

   “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”

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