earthy C2+ Topic:Nature & Landscape US /ˈɝθi/ UK /ˈɜːθi/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj resembling soil; plainly natural or coarsely direct The novel's earthy humor reflected its rural setting. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · resembling soil; plainly... coarsecrudeunrefinedribaldbawdynaturalrusticunaffected ↔ Opposites refinedgenteeldelicateethereal Word family Forms earthiness Derived forms earthinessearthily Related forms earthearthlyearthen Etymology AI details From Middle English erthy, from earth + -y. The figurative sense of 'coarse, unrefined' developed from the literal sense of resembling soil. eorþe Old English *erþō Proto-Germanic View etymology graph -> Topics Nature & Landscape Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # earthy **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˈɝθi/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈɜːθi/ ## Meanings 1. resembling soil; plainly natural or coarsely direct ## Examples - The novel's earthy humor reflected its rural setting. ## Synonyms - coarse - crude - unrefined - ribald - bawdy - natural - rustic - unaffected ## Antonyms - refined - genteel - delicate - ethereal ## Derived Forms - earthiness - earthily ## Related Forms - earth - earthly - earthen ## Roots and Affixes - Root: eorþe - Root: *erþō ## Etymology From Middle English erthy, from earth + -y. The figurative sense of 'coarse, unrefined' developed from the literal sense of resembling soil. ## AI Etymology Earthy is from Middle English erthy, from earth + -y. The figurative sense of 'coarse, unrefined' developed from the literal sense of resembling soil. The ancestry passes through Old English eorþe and Proto-Germanic *erþō. The suffix -y forms an adjective meaning characterized by the base, so the English form is shaped by recognizable word formation as well as by its inherited or borrowed base. In present use as an adjective, it means "resembling soil; plainly natural or coarsely direct", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. The figurative development named in the history lets the word move from a concrete base into a broader descriptive use. Related words include earth, earthly, and earthen; derived forms include earthiness and earthily. ## Topics - Nature & Landscape - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown