earthly
UK/ˈəːθli/
earthly adjective: relating to the earth or this world, as opposed to heaven or the heavens.
Adjective (1)
earthly (comparative earthlier, superlative earthliest)
- Relating to the earth or this world, as opposed to heaven or the heavens.
- The Garden of Earthly Delights is full of earthly joys alongside grotesqueries, monstrosities, and torture.
- (For many walke, of whome I haue told you often, and now tell you euen weeping, that they are the enemies of the crosse of Christ: / Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glorie is in their shame, who minde earthly things.)1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Philippians 3:18–19
- Synonyms:
- worldly, worldy, terrestrial, material, mundane, sublunar, sublunary, profane, temporal, areligious
- Antonyms:
- heavenly, celestial, otherworldly, ethereal, empyreal, empyrean, etheric, transcendental, sublime, spiritual
- Made of earth; earthy.
- We have this […] treasure in frail, brittle, and earthly vessels.1533, John Frith, An Other Boke against Rastel
- Used in negative contructions for emphasis.
- There is no earthly way, I mean no way on earth, that I will ever do that.
- The pressures of politics and war seem remote on this lovely stretch of California coastline, but last week there was no earthly way to avoid them.1971 April 4, Robert B. Semple Jr., “The Nation”, in The New York Times, page E1
Noun
earthly (plural earthlies)
- That which is of the earth or earthly; a terrestrial being.
- He claims that the book directs the believer to let go of the earthly and await God's kingdom in the heavenly.2018, Tamar M. Boyadjian, The City Lament: Jerusalem across the Medieval Mediterranean, Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press, page 28
- So, let all earthlies and celestials wait / Upon Thy royal state! / Sleep, sleep, my kingly One![1844], Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “The Virgin Mary to the Child Jesus”, in Mrs. Browning's Poems with Memoir, Chicago & New York: Henneberry, stanza 5, page 267
- A slightest chance (of success etc.) or idea (about something).
- He arched his eyebrows over the summons. "The poor devil has not an earthly!" said he. "He's lucky to have a summons. Usually they act on a warrant."1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019
- You're here, aren't you, if it comes to a bunk but we're there, cut off so to speak, and if anything slips, like what that bloke makes out in his letter, we shan't have half an earthly.1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London
Adverb
earthly (comparative more earthly, superlative most earthly)
- in an earthly manner.
- But earthlyer happy is the roſe diſtild, / Then that, vvhich, vvithering on the virgin thorne, / Grovves, liues, and dies, in ſingle bleſſedneſſe.c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]
- and dost thou, indeed, revive to existence only to again (even in more attempered blood) design the death of the innocent, helpless, orphaned memorial of a pure, a heaven and earthly-sanctioned flame, whose venial trespass was but the forestalment of your own decree?1827, Sarah Wilmot Wells, Tales; Mournful, Mirthful, and Marvellous, volume 3, page 94
Adjective (2) capitalized: Earthly
Earthly
- Alternative letter-case form of earthly (“relating to the Earth”).
- Except at Trenco’s very poles there is not a spot in which or a time at which an Earthly gale would not constitute a dead calm; […] The wind was now scarcely more than an Earthly hurricane; […] its smaller stars, brilliant to Earthly eyes only because of their nearness, would be dimmer, perhaps...1950, Edward E[lmer] Smith, First Lensman, Reading, Pa.: Fantasy Press, published 1952, pages 132, 136, and 139
- The Earthly chronometer will indeed indicate that several decades have passed; whereas the spacely chronometer will indicate instead that several years have passed.2008, Michael F. Wagner, “[The Makings of a Temporal Universe] Synchronicity and Asynchronicity”, in The Enigmatic Reality of Time: Aristotle, Plotinus, and Today (Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism...
earthly meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada
earthly in Hindi
- as opposed to heaven
- पार्थिव pārthiv, लौकिक laukik, सांसारिक sānsārik, भौमिक bhaumik
earthly in Tamil
- பூமிக்குரிய, பூமிக்குரியவர், பூமிக்குரியவை
earthly in Malayalam
- ഭൌമികം
earthly in Kannada
- ಭೂಮಂಡಲದ, ಭೂಮಂಡಲದವರು
More languagesFewer languages
- earthly in Persian
- زمینی zamini
Examples of earthly in a sentence
- The shadows of earth and earthly things, resting omen-like upon the waters, alone shewed which was the home and which the mirror of the celestial host.[1832], L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Enchantress”, in Heath’s Book of Beauty. M.DCCC.XXXIII. […], London: Longman, Rees, Orme...
- Where it had been left hundreds of years ago, / Extract from the depth, is but a setting sun, / Paradise is scarce in this light that won’t shine, / What is our earthly task, but a worthy design?1999, Lætitia Sadier, “The Free Design”, in Tim Gane (music), Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, performed by...
- In fiscal terms, there’s no earthly reason for Congress to be stingy with Social Security’s administrative budget.2016 June 10, Michael Hitzlik, “Column: Congress continues its stealth assault on Social Security’s customer service”, in Los Angeles Times:
- ‘Then I didn't have a chance when I stood you a drink?’ I said. ‘Not an earthly!’ she said and laughed; but when I left she kissed me good-night.1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 315:
Synonyms of earthly
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of earthly
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | earthlier |
| superlative | earthliest |
| alternative form | Earthly |
| Noun | |
| plural | earthlies |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more earthly |
| superlative | most earthly |
Origin of earthly
From Middle English erthely, erthlich, ierðlich, from Old English eorþlīċ, corresponding to earth + -ly. Cognate with Old Norse jarðligr (“earthly”).
By surface analysis, Earth + -ly.
Words formed from earthly
Phrases with earthly
Questions about earthly
- What does earthly mean?
- Earthly means relating to the earth or this world, as opposed to heaven or the heavens.
- What is earthly in Hindi?
- Earthly in Hindi is पार्थिव (pārthiv), लौकिक (laukik), सांसारिक (sānsārik). See Earthly meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use earthly in a sentence?
- The shadows of earth and earthly things, resting omen-like upon the waters, alone shewed which was the home and which the mirror of the celestial host.
- What part of speech is earthly?
- Earthly can be an adjective, a noun or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce earthly?
- Earthly is pronounced /ˈəːθli/ (UK).
Words near earthly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: earthly (page history and authors); Earthly (page history and authors); earthly (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); earthly (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); earthly (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-earthly.ogg.
Cite this entry: “earthly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/earthly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.