as in temporal
having to do with life on earth especially as opposed to that in heaven
a sermon against our obsession with earthly pursuits
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of earthly
What feels like sci-fi resolves into a Realist worker portrait as a technological fantasy of efficiency chafes against the fleshy, earthly physical world.
—
Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 24 May 2026
Escaping into a world clouded with fantasy — scenarios that, at least on this earthly plane, could never happen — is a fun way to temporarily pretend.
—Samantha Sasso, Vulture, 22 May 2026
As earthly circles of hell go, modern-day Newark is in an altogether different, gentler category from post-WWII Leningrad.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 13 May 2026
Divinity above, earthly pleasures below.
—Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 11 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for earthly
Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 24 May 2026
Escaping into a world clouded with fantasy — scenarios that, at least on this earthly plane, could never happen — is a fun way to temporarily pretend.
—Samantha Sasso, Vulture, 22 May 2026
As earthly circles of hell go, modern-day Newark is in an altogether different, gentler category from post-WWII Leningrad.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 13 May 2026
Divinity above, earthly pleasures below.
—Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 11 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for earthly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for earthly
Adjective
-
Though editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis (a Yorgos Lanthimos regular) cuts the film with brisk concision, there’s also a welcome temporal elasticity here — the sense that life can change in the blink of an eye, but also stall for undefined passages.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
19 June 2026
-
The researchers fed this millennium-long data into a computer model to determine how much stress has built up along the faults in that temporal window.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
18 June 2026
Adjective
-
Over the course of the 2030s, the idea of telepathy will go from novel and futuristic to ubiquitous and mundane.—
Rob Toews,
Forbes.com,
22 June 2026
-
The videos shot selfie-style show Kasemeier completing mundane tasks like shaving, or making a meal for his kids while giving the internet a glimpse into his week as a dad.—
Paloma Chavez,
PEOPLE,
20 June 2026
Adjective
-
At the same time, Standard Nuclear operates as an independent, reactor-agnostic fuel developer, meaning its TRISO fuel can be utilized across various third-party reactor designs for both terrestrial power grids and space exploration systems.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
17 June 2026
-
But in Brazil, the main terrestrial broadcaster, Globo, has avoided advertising.—
Tom Burrows,
New York Times,
17 June 2026
Adjective
-
Team Australia players Jacob Italiano and Harry Souttar just received two yellow cards after the referee determined that the match is becoming too physical.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
20 June 2026
-
Professor Igor Aharonovich said twisting layered materials can produce entirely new physical behaviors.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
19 June 2026
Adjective
-
The charity reports a 70% increase in multi-animal incidents across England and Wales since 2021, defining such cases as those involving 10 or more animals.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Regulators are trying to push drug development into a post-animal testing era.—
Meghana Keshavan,
STAT,
19 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Earthly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/earthly. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
