sensual

English

Alternative forms

• sensuall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Late Latin sensualis (“endowed with feeling, sensual”), from Latin sensus (“feeling, sense”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛnsjuːəl/, /ˈsɛnʃuːəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.ʃu.əl/

Adjective

sensual (comparative more sensual, superlative most sensual)

1. Inducing pleasurable or erotic sensations.

   Synonyms: sexy, voluptuous

   That massage was a very sensual experience!

2. Of or pertaining to the physical senses; sensory.

   Plato believed that this sensual world in which we live is inferior to the heavenly realm.

3. Provoking or exciting a strong response in the senses.

Derived terms

• antisensual
• asensual
• con-sensual
• hypersensual
• multisensual
• nonsensual
• pretersensual
• sensualise, sensualize
• sensualism
• sensualist
• sensualistic
• sensuality
• sensualization
• sensually
• sensualness
• sensual play
• supersensual
• suprasensual
• transsensual
• ultrasensual
• unisensual
• unsensual

Related terms

• sense
• sensible
• sensuous

Category English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sent- (feel) not found

Translations

inducing pleasurable or erotic sensations

• Bulgarian: чувствен (bg) (čuvstven), сладострастен (bg) (sladostrasten)
• Catalan: sensual (ca)
• Czech: smyslný (cs)
• Danish: sensuel
• Finnish: sensuelli (fi), aistillinen (fi)
• Galician: sensual
• German: sinnlich (de), lustvoll (de)
• Hindi: कामुक (hi) (kāmuk)
• Indonesian: sensual (id)
• Italian: sensuale (it)
• Japanese: 官能的 (ja) (かんのうてき, kannōteki)
• Māori: oni
• Polish: cielesny (pl), zmysłowy (pl)
• Romanian: senzual (ro)
• Scottish Gaelic: feòlmhor, collaidh
• Serbo-Croatian: sȅnzūalan (sh), pȕten (sh), čȗlan (sh)
• Spanish: sensual (es)
• Swedish: sensuell (sv), vällustig (sv)
• Turkish: sensüel
• Vietnamese: xác thịt (vi), nhục dục (vi)
• Welsh: cnawdol (cy)

related to senses

• Czech: smyslový (cs)
• Polish: zmysłowy (pl)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} sensuel (fr), voluptueux (fr)

Further reading

• “sensual”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “sensual”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “sensual”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• unseals

Albanian

Adjective

sensual (feminine sensuale)

1. (literary) sensual

   Synonym: shqisor

Further reading

• “sensual”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[1], 1980
• Newmark, Leonard (1999), “sensual”, in Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sēnsuālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [sən.suˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [sen.suˈal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

sensual m or f (masculine and feminine plural sensuals)

1. sensual

Related terms

• sensualitat

Further reading

• “sensual”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin sēnsuālis, from Latin sēnsus. By surface analysis, senso +‎ -ual.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /sẽ.suˈaw/ [sẽ.sʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /sẽˈswaw/ [sẽˈswaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sẽˈswal/ [sẽˈswaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sẽˈswal/ [sẽˈswaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sẽˈswa.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Homophone: censual
• Hyphenation: sen‧su‧al

Adjective

sensual m or f (plural sensuais, comparable, comparative mais sensual, superlative o mais sensual or sensualíssimo)

1. sexually attractive; sexy

Derived terms

• sensualidade
• sensualismo
• sensualmente

Related terms

• senso

Further reading

• “sensual”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “sensual”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin sēnsuālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /senˈswal/ [sẽnˈswal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: sen‧sual

Adjective

sensual m or f (masculine and feminine plural sensuales)

1. sensual

Derived terms

• sensualismo
• sensualista
• sensualmente

Related terms

• sensualidad

Further reading

• “sensual”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025