【Sensuous】 , 【sensual】 ,  【luxurious】 ,  【voluptuous】 ,  【sybaritic】 ,  【epicurean】  are comparable when they mean having to do with the gratification of the senses or providing pleasure by gratifying the senses.

Both  【sensuous】  and  【sensual】  can imply reference to the sense organs and to perceptions based on the reactions of these organs and then come very close to sensory in meaning, but more typically both apply to things of the senses as opposed to things of the spirit or intellect. In this use  【sensuous】  is more likely to imply gratification of the senses for the sake of the aesthetic pleasure or the delight in beauty of color, sound, or form that is induced while  【sensual】 (for fuller treatment see CARNAL ) tends to imply the gratification of the senses or the indulgence of the appetities (as of gluttony and lust) as an end in itself.

As applied to persons or their natures,  【sensuous】  often carries an implication of indifference to things of the spirit but it practically never suggests the carnality so often connoted by  【sensual】 .

【Luxurious】  (see also  【LUXURIOUS】 2 ) implies indulgence, often self-indulgence, in 【sensual】 or, more often, 【sensuous】 pleasures, especially pleasures that induce a pleasant languor, delightful ease, or particularly a grateful peace of mind.

【Voluptuous】  also implies giving oneself up to the pleasures of sense but it carries a stronger implication of abandonment to such pleasure for its own sake than does  【luxurious】 ; also it more frequently carries a suggestion of 【sensual】 rather than of 【sensuous】 enjoyment.

【Sybaritic】 implies voluptuousness of an overrefined and effeminate sort; usually it suggests indulgence in the rarest and choicest foods and drinks amid surroundings calculated to charm and soothe the senses.

【Epicurean】 may imply sensuality and voluptuousness but more often suggests 【sensuous】 rather than 【sensual】 delight in the pleasures of eating and drinking and a delicate and fastidious rather than a gross taste.