down-to-earth
Americanadjective
adjective
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Back to reality. For example, It's time the employees were brought down to earth concerning the budget . P.G. Wodehouse had this idiom in Very Good, Jeeves! (1930): “I had for some little time been living . . . in another world. I now came down to earth with a bang.” [Late 1920s]
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Also, down-to-earth . Realistic or interested in everyday occurrences, as in She is a very down-to-earth person, not at all involved with the glamour of Hollywood . [1930s]
Etymology
Origin of down-to-earth
First recorded in 1925–30
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.
“Very down-to-earth, though she was even younger than us. A sharp wit who could put you in your place with one look. I loved it!”
From Literature
“This is the type of friend a lot of us wish we had,” Bryon Taylor wrote on Facebook, who described Porter as a funny, cool and down-to-earth person who loved life.
From Los Angeles Times
But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never left him.
From BBC
People who know Majic describe him as an intense but down-to-earth guy who coaches youth hockey and crashes with old teammates when he travels.
He's matter-of-fact, down-to-earth, good-humoured, and straight to the point.
From BBC
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.
