Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Sensual or sensuous?

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Sensual or sensuous? Sensual: adjective- concerning the senses or sensation, sensory; depending only on the senses andnot the spirit or intellect; appealing to or involving appetites or desires;carnal, fleshly, lewd, depraved; immersed in material or temporal mattersrather than intellectual and spiritual interests; worldly; excessively devotedto physical pleasure or gratification of the senses; self-indulgent sexually, orwith food and drink.
Sensuous: adjective- concerning the senses or sensation; derived from or affecting the senses; affectingthe senses aesthetically rather than sensually; readily affected by the senses,keenly responsive to the pleasures of sensation.
Traditionally, the distinction between 'sensuous'and 'sensual' makes 'sensuous' a more neutral term with the meaning of 'concerningthe senses rather than the intellect', while 'sensual' relates to gratificationof the senses, especially those of a sexual nature.
Although the words, like so many of thesedifficult pairings, are more or less interchangeable, general usage suggeststhat 'sensual' be used for sexual or erotic matters, and 'sensuous' be employedmore neutrally for those things that provide pleasurable sensations of a moregeneral sort.
'Eileen, a sensual creature,who loved the feel of other skin on her own, was always seeking a mate withwhom she could experience all the wonders of sex.'
'George blamed the size ofhis belly and the girth of his waist entirely on the sensuous pleasures ofeating foods that filled his palate with delight and treated his mouth to manyvaried textures and tastes.'