The main definition of the adjective fleshly is of or relating to the body. It’s synonymous with carnal and sensual, and it’s often used in religion-related contexts as an antonym of spiritual or heavenly. Fleshy means (1) relating to, consisting of, or resembling flesh, or (2) plump.
Many dictionaries list fleshy and fleshly as variants of each other, but it’s best to keep the words separate. Fleshly is appropriate in most figurative senses, and fleshy usually relates to actual flesh.
Examples
For example, these writers demonstrate correct usage of fleshly (which appears with especial frequency in Christian publications):
As death is antithetical to life, it should follow that fleshly pleasures would have no attraction for the soul. [Trinidad Express Newspaper]
Living a fleshly lifestyle of disobedience to the Lord clouds our eyes, diminishes our ability to hear, and fogs our thinking. [Christian Post]
A concurrent thread running through the early church in America was that of the Shakers – who shunned all fleshly indulgences, but had a passion for God that actually set them a-quiver. [Minnesota Public Radio]
And as these examples show, fleshy usually means of or relating to fresh in a literal sense:
It is not just consumers who seem keen on the fleshy fish. [Financial Times]
Olives were already on the table, and they were really good ones, flecked with herbs and fleshy on the inside. [Montreal Gazette]
Crotti, a big, fleshy man, is plainly enchanted by the delicate Chan … [Times Online]
