salt of the earth

noun

1. an individual or group considered as representative of the best or noblest elements of society.

salt of the Earth

1. Basic, fundamental goodness; the phrase can be used to describe any simple, good person: “I like Mary: she's reliable, trustworthy, and straightforward; she's the salt of the Earth.” In the Sermon on the Mount , Jesus tells his followers, who are mainly fishermen and other simple people, “Ye are the salt of the Earth.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of salt of the earth¹

1350–1400; Middle English; after Matthew 5:13

Example Sentences

But there’s an inherent danger, particularly in a party criticized for elitism, in giving too much ground to big-name actors or musicians who may not exactly scream “salt of the earth.”

From Los Angeles Times

“It’s a place of people who are salt of the earth,” he concluded, moving on to guacamole that he spiked with La Parrilla’s salsa de chile de árbol.

From Los Angeles Times

He added in a Facebook thread: “While some artistes among us might sometimes have regretted the intrusions of the breaking news that paid our salaries, Ray had an enormous capacity not only to write quickly but to think quickly under enormous pressure on such occasions. And, as others have said, just the salt of the earth.”

From Seattle Times

Other gritters have been named Putting on the Gritz, Snowbody does it better, Scooperman and Salt of the Earth.

From BBC

The Stones, while massive, still fit the salt of the earth sound of the show, and this album reflects a lot of that mid- to late ’70s gritty rock sound they created.

From Los Angeles Times