Word.ws English Dictionary

on the face of the earth

on the face of the earth prepositional phrase: synonym of in the world.

Prepositional phrase

  1. Synonym of in the world.
    • No nation on the face of the earth, would, in a fimilar ſituation, have dealt ſo equitably, and with ſuch moderation, as the Engliſh have done, and continue to do, with reſpect to the French and Dutch traders in India.1783, Joseph Price, Five Letters From a Free Merchant in Bengal, to Warren Hastings, →OCLC, →OL, page 161
    • America produces the most prosperous man on the face of the earth. These institutions of ours have given to the individual the largest degree of prosperity enjoyed by tlie masses of the people any place on the face of the earth. America produces the brainiest man on the face of the earth, and it...1897, Reverdy C. Ransom, Deborah and Jael: Sermon to the I.B. W. Woman's Club at Bethel A.M.E. Church, Chicago, III, page 2
    Synonyms:
    in the world

Examples of on the face of the earth in a sentence

  • America produces the most prosperous man on the face of the earth.1897, Reverdy C. Ransom, Deborah and Jael: Sermon to the I.B. W. Woman's Club at Bethel A.M.E. Church, Chicago, III, page 2:
  • No philosopher, no scientist, on the face of the earth is as yet able to explain to us either sleep or/ dream.1899, Minot J. Savage, Life Beyond Death, G. P. Putnam's sons, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 13:

Synonyms of on the face of the earth

Questions about on the face of the earth

What does on the face of the earth mean?
On the face of the earth means synonym of in the world.
How do you use on the face of the earth in a sentence?
America produces the most prosperous man on the face of the earth.
What part of speech is on the face of the earth?
On the face of the earth is a prepositional phrase.

Words near on the face of the earth in the dictionary

  1. on the edge
  2. on the edge of
  3. on the edge of one's seat
  4. on the face of
  5. on the face of it
  6. on the face of the earth
  7. on the fence
  8. on the fiddle
  9. on the flat
  10. on the flip side
  11. on the flipside

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on the face of the earth (page history and authors). 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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Cite this entry: “on the face of the earth.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/on_the_face_of_the_earth. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.