adjective
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of or characteristic of the earth as opposed to heaven; material or materialistic; worldly
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informal (usually used with a negative) conceivable or possible; feasible (in such phrases as not an earthly ( chance ), etc)
Related Words
Earthly, terrestrial, worldly, mundane refer to that which is concerned with the earth literally or figuratively. Earthly now almost always implies a contrast to that which is heavenly: earthly pleasures; our earthly home. Terrestrial, from Latin, is the dignified equivalent of earthly, and it applies to the earth as a planet or to the land as opposed to the water: the terrestrial globe; terrestrial areas. Worldly is commonly used in the sense of being devoted to the vanities, cares, advantages, or gains of this present life to the exclusion of spiritual interests or the life to come: worldly success; worldly standards. Mundane, from Latin, is a formal equivalent of worldly and suggests that which is bound to the earth, is not exalted, and therefore is commonplace: mundane pursuits.
Other Word Forms
- earthliness noun
- superearthly adjective
Etymology
Origin of earthly
First recorded before 1000; Middle English erth(e)ly, Old English eorthlīc. See earth, -ly
Explanation
If you believe in an afterlife, you probably realize that making lots of money is only an earthly concern, and not something that matters in heaven. Religious believers make the distinction between earthly problems and things that are far more important in the long term. Usually, these earthly worries have to do with material things, like jobs, money, cars, and houses — rather than spiritual concerns like love, faith, and beauty. The word earth is at the root of earthly, and you can think of it as "things that only matter to humans on the Earth."
Vocabulary lists containing earthly
Obama's speech at Connecticut vigil
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Bob
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Lord Jim
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In fact, the bulk of this novel is devoted to earthly concerns—Iris’s deepening relationship with Geoffrey and, incongruously, her career aspirations.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
These earthly dynamics are already part of the risk calculus for markets.
From Barron's • Mar. 2, 2026
The success is driven in part by a very earthly concern: making airplane wifi more reliable.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 11, 2026
But as a feeling, it’s far more akin to gospel, like a baroque passage of biblical scripture comparing the earthly limitations of the body and the endless possibilities of the mind.
From Salon • Dec. 27, 2025
One could, for example, argue that far from there being one earthly sphere floating in the ocean it was now apparent that there were two.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
