in the flesh
Bodily before you
In the flesh means physically present rather than seen in a photograph, on screen, or imagined.
It emphasizes that someone is actually there, often with a note of surprise or excitement: I never thought I'd see a movie star in the flesh.
The phrase can also stress bodily reality versus abstraction—meeting the person behind a reputation or image.
The author was even more impressive in the flesh than in interviews.
- in personBodily present somewhere
- face-to-faceDirect personal encounter
- meet and greetInformal introductory gathering
- bodyPhysical structure, living thing
- firsthandWithout intermediary
embodiment · concrete · appearance · materialization · skin and bones · tangible · authenticity · corporeal · incarnate · real-world · meeting · unmediated · experiential · real life · encounter · actuality · attendance · substance
- availabilityavailable, unavailable, sold out, in stock, out of stock
in the fleshvirtually
Nearly but not quite
online · remotely · digitally · on television · on the phone
in the fleshin absentia
Latin for "while absent"
absent · not present · missing · nowhere to be found · in name only
in the fleshin spirit
Present emotionally, not physically
disembodied · incorporeal · ethereal · in the abstract · conceptually
the, flesh, fleshy, fleshing, fleshed, fleshes, fleshiness, fleshly, fleshier