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salt of the earth

salt of the earth

noun

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

salt of the Earth

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.”

Synonyms

salt of the earth

American

noun

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

salt of the Earth Cultural

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.”

Etymology

Origin of salt of the earth

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

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:

salt of the earth salt of the Earth

“The people we cater to at these things are ... everyday people, salt of the earth people.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2025

Elliott is very familiar with playing tough, salt of the earth characters like cowboys.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 22, 2023

"It is true there are few of us here, but we call ourselves the salt of the earth because even a pinch of salt can add a lot of flavour to this town."

From Reuters ● Apr. 13, 2023

"That's how these people are. They're salt of the earth... That's what we're trying to save."

From BBC ● Nov. 24, 2020

Unfortunately for cosmic justice, many gifted writers are scoundrels, and many inept ones are the salt of the earth.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

And even though we didn’t share screen time together in this film, we shared some time off camera and he was salt of the Earth when he first met me.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 20, 2023

“She took pride in calling herself a New Yorker but she had salt of the Earth mid-western roots which she was also proud of,” Hilepo said in an email.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 17, 2020

Russian people are the salt of the Earth.

From New York Times ● Nov. 15, 2017

He describes his parents as “very self-effacing, very salt of the Earth kind of people.”

From Time ● Jul. 20, 2016

A respectable, ever-increasing minority, who do strive for something higher than money, I with confidence anticipate; ever-increasing, till there be a sprinkling of them found in all quarters, as salt of the Earth once more.

From Past and Present Thomas Carlyle's Collected Works, Vol. XIII. by Thomas Carlyle

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023