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earthly

earthly

73 4.5
Relating to the physical world and everyday life, not the spiritual
  • adjective
  • /ˈɜrθli/
: terrenal
  • My hope isn't in some earthly utopia.
  • earthly life
  • earthly existence
  • enjoy earthly life

They want to leave their earthly life and not come back.

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Examples

Synonyms

worldly
vsearthly
48 5.8

Interested in money and possessions rather than religion

describes the physical world itself rather than a concern or attitude
terrestrial
vsearthly
13 5.5

About the Earth and ordinary life, not spiritual matters

refers more generally to the physical world, not only land or ground
temporal
vsearthly
  • Formal
8 7.6

About the physical world rather than spiritual matters

refers to the physical world itself rather than to time or duration
sublunary
vsearthly
  • Archaic
1 9.9

Something that is about the earth and life on it rather than the heavens

is a neutral term for the physical world without stressing ordinariness
sublunar
vsearthly
  • Literature
1 9.9

About the world and everyday life, not the heavens

is the neutral term for the physical world without cosmic phrasing

Antonyms

592 4.8

Relating to the soul and to religion

110 5.0

Connected with God or the place people go after death

Idioms

no earthly idea
  • Informal
3 7.5

To not know anything at all about something

Compounds

A beautiful peaceful place on earth that seems perfect

A reasonable explanation for something that seems strange

Pleasure from physical or material things rather than spiritual ones

A worry about everyday life and money

How Earthly

worldly
48 5.8
material
152 3.5
earthly
73 4.5
otherworldly
  • Literature
30 7.8
heavenly
110 5.0

Surface Forms

earthly positive

Morphology

earthly = earth (transparent) = earth + ly

Formed by the noun 'earth' + adjectival suffix '-ly', meaning 'relating to the physical world', which is directly predictable by learners.

Etymology

Earthly comes from the simple word earth meaning 'ground' or 'soil' and the ending -ly meaning 'like' or 'related to'. So earthly means 'of the physical world' or 'of this life', not spiritual or heavenly.