Standard Lemma guide

down-to-earth

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˌdaʊn.ɾəˈɚθ/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Practical; realistic; pragmatic.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

  • He had a down-to-earth attitude that translated into a straightforward, but effective strategy.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Ordinary; normal; run-of-the-mill.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

sensible and practical

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • has a straightforward down-to-earth approach to a problem
  • her earthy common sense

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: earthy

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

35 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: практичен (praktičen) — practical; realistic
  • Bulgarian: реалистичен (realističen) — practical; realistic
  • Chinese Mandarin: 腳踏實地 /脚踏实地 (jiǎotàshídì) — practical; realistic
  • Chinese Mandarin: 務實 /务实 (wùshí) — practical; realistic
  • Chinese Mandarin: 實際 /实际 (shíjì) — practical; realistic
  • Finnish: maanläheinen — practical; realistic
  • French: terre à terre — practical; realistic
  • Georgian: ამქვეყნიური (amkveq̇niuri) — practical; realistic
  • German: bodenständig — practical; realistic
  • Hungarian: gyakorlatias — practical; realistic
  • Hungarian: prózai — practical; realistic
  • Hungarian: pragmatikus — practical; realistic
  • Hungarian: praktikus — practical; realistic
  • Hungarian: józan — practical; realistic
  • Icelandic: jarðbundinn — practical; realistic
  • Japanese: 地に足のついた (chi ni ashi no tsuita) — practical; realistic
  • Macedonian: при́земен (prízemen) — practical; realistic
  • Macedonian: пра́ктичен (práktičen) — practical; realistic
  • Macedonian: реали́стичен (realístičen) — practical; realistic
  • Polish: pragmatyczny — practical; realistic
  • Polish: praktyczny — practical; realistic
  • Polish: realistyczny — practical; realistic
  • Portuguese: prático — practical; realistic
  • Portuguese: pragmático — practical; realistic
  • Portuguese: pé no chão — practical; realistic
  • Romanian: cu picioarele pe pământ — practical; realistic
  • Russian: приземлённый (prizemljónnyj) — practical; realistic
  • Russian: практи́чный (praktíčnyj) — practical; realistic
  • Russian: реалисти́чный (realistíčnyj) — practical; realistic
  • Spanish: con los pies en la tierra — practical; realistic
  • Swedish: jordnära — practical; realistic
  • Swedish: chosefri — practical; realistic
  • Swedish: sjåsfri — practical; realistic
  • Tagalog: praktikal — practical; realistic
  • Ukrainian: призе́млений (pryzémlenyj) — practical; realistic