on earth

Idioms  

1. Also, in creation ; in the world . Ever, anywhere, of all possible things. These phrases are all used for emphasis in questions or, less often, in a negative context. For example, What on earth is he doing with a spade? or Where in creation did that child go? or How in the world do you expect me to carry all those bags? [Late 1700s]

2. like nothing on earth . Incomparable. For example, That perfume smells like nothing on earth , or Her new hair color is like nothing on earth . [c. 1900]

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Example Sentences

What on earth had driven them to become so radical?

From Slate • May 4, 2026

“Anthropic’s Claude proves this isn’t a question of whether platforms can implement safeguards. The question is: why on earth haven’t they?”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

After all, they are attempting to capture, on earth, the reaction that powers the Sun.

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026

Diplomacy now has a live-market feed, one that operates on a 24-hour crypto exchange with no circuit breaker and is visible simultaneously to every government, hedge fund, and sanctions-compliance desk on earth.

From Barron's • Apr. 18, 2026

But the last thing on earth I plan to do is go digging through the pictures in Cletus’s beat-up vinyl suitcase so we can collaborate, as he puts it.

From "Missing May" by Cynthia Rylant