earthbound
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Confined to the earth; not spiritual or heavenly: Refers to something that is tied to or limited by the physical world, as opposed to being celestial or spiritual.
- Lacking in imagination or excitement; mundane: Describes something that is ordinary, dull, or overly practical.
Usage Examples
Adjective (Confined to the earth):
- The satellite, once earthbound, is now in orbit.
- His interests were purely earthbound, focused on agriculture and geology.
Adjective (Lacking imagination):
- The report was criticized for its earthbound analysis, offering no innovative solutions.
- She found his earthbound perspective on art to be uninspiring.
Advanced Usage
- "earthbound thinking": A way of thinking that is overly practical, conventional, or resistant to new ideas.
- The project failed due to the team's earthbound thinking; they were afraid to take creative risks.
Variants and Related Words
- Earthbound is a compound adjective formed from "earth" and "bound." There are no direct inflectional variants (e.g., earthbounds, earthbounder).
- Related Concept: Terrestrial (adj): Pertaining to the earth or land; worldly. Often used in scientific contexts (e.g., terrestrial planets).
Synonyms
- Mundane: Ordinary, commonplace.
- Prosaic: Commonplace, unromantic.
- Pedestrian: Lacking inspiration or excitement; dull.
- Worldly: Concerned with material values or ordinary life rather than spiritual affairs.
Antonyms
- Celestial: Pertaining to the sky or heavens; divine.
- Imaginative: Having or showing creativity or inventiveness.
- Visionary: Thinking about or planning the future with imagination or wisdom.
Related Idioms or Phrases
- With one's feet on the ground: To be practical and sensible. This idiom shares the connotation of being realistic but not necessarily lacking imagination, whereas "earthbound" can imply a negative lack of vision.
- She's a dreamer, but she keeps her feet on the ground. (This is generally positive, unlike the often negative "earthbound.")
Adjective
- lacking wit or imagination
- a pedestrian movie plot
- confined to the earth