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)
Synonym Usage
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
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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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.
See Examples For:
Conjuring fantasies is one of humanity’s most ancient arts — a sacred creative practice — but without earthly rooting, the symphony is incomplete.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
It’s a song about a ne’er-do-well who can’t help messing up, and Mr. Kahan wishes the best for him—hoping his greatest fears are earthly threats like personal safety and cancer and not eternal damnation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
Scott-Heron’s lunar criticism is not so much concerned with the otherworldly as a space for imagining the earthly impossible, but for assembling earthly sites of decolonization and liberation.
From Salon ● Apr. 7, 2026
These earthly dynamics are already part of the risk calculus for markets.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
An operation would have been no earthly use at all.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
But first, to penetrate this barrier, the soul with which you listen must be sharpened by intense enthusiasm, purified from all earthlier desires.
From Zanoni by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
But earthlier happy is the rose distilled Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.
From Breakfasts and Teas Novel Suggestions for Social Occasions by Pierce, Paul
Her heart exulted, while it trembled, at his honorable love,—so pure and lofty that it would accept nothing less than perfection nor miserably make itself contented with an earthlier nature than he had dreamed of.
From Stories of Mystery by Johnson, Rossiter
Her heart exulted, while it trembled, at his honorable love,—so pure and lofty that it would accept nothing less than perfection, nor miserably make itself contented with an earthlier nature than he had dreamed of.
From Short-Stories by Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne
May I not dream God sends thee there, Thou mellow angel of the air, Even to rebuke my earthlier rhymes With music’s soul, all praise and prayer?
From Aileen Aroon, A Memoir With other Tales of Faithful Friends and Favourites by Stables, Gordon
But the moon still revolveth around all that is earthly: so revolveth also the prince around what is earthliest of all—that, however, is the gold of the shopman.
From Thus Spake Zarathustra A book for all and none by Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm
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.
