Meanings
- idiomaticA person or group of people considered to represent the most decent and admirable parts of humanity.
People who are firm but fair, and fair but firm, are the salt of the earth.
3 more examples
Yee are the ſalt of the earth: But if the ſalt haue loſt his ſauour, wherewith ſhall it bee ſalted: It is thencefoꝛth good foꝛ nothing, but to be caſt out, and to be troden vnder foote of men.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 5:13Dodger fans, convinced they were the salt of the earth, would swear they could tell a Yankee fan from 20 paces by a lack of humor, or a New York Giant fan by an overbearing quality.
1986 May 15, George Vecsey, “Locals at Second Base”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 May 2015"When someone dies, especially when a life is cut short under tragic circumstances, people always say, 'they were great, they were the salt of the earth,'" said Hagit Hornstein, a friend and colleague of Cherkesky. "But Michal [Cherkesky] really was perfect. There's no other word to describe her, an angel. I miss her already."
2014 October 20, Barak Ravid, Noa Shpigel, “Body of Missing Israeli Found in Nepal”, in Haaretz, archived from the original on 05 Jun 2023Antonyms: scum of the earth
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person or group of people considered to represent the most decent and admirable parts of humanity.
Origin
- Ancient Greekτὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς
- Englishsalt of the earth
Calque of Ancient Greek τὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς (tò hálas tês gês) in the Book of Matthew, chapter 5, verse 13.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic ملح الأرض
- ملح الأرضa decent, dependable person
Catalan sal de la terra
- sal de la terraa decent, dependable person
Chinese Mandarin 好人
- 好人 (hǎorén)a decent, dependable person
Finnish kunnon ihminen, maan suola
- kunnon ihminena decent, dependable person
- maan suolaa decent, dependable person
French sel de la Terre
- sel de la Terrea decent, dependable person
German Salz der Erde
- Salz der Erdea decent, dependable person
Hebrew מלח הארץ
- מלח הארץa decent, dependable person
Italian sale della terra
- sale della terraa decent, dependable person
Japanese 地の塩
- 地の塩a decent, dependable person
Korean 세상의 소금
- 세상의 소금 (sesang'ui sogeum)a decent, dependable person
Latin sal terrae
- sal terraea decent, dependable person
Polish sól ziemi
- sól ziemia decent, dependable person
Portuguese sal da terra
- sal da terraa decent, dependable person
Romanian sarea pământului
- sarea pământuluia decent, dependable person
Russian соль земли́
- соль земли́ (solʹ zemlí)a decent, dependable person
Spanish sal de la tierra
- sal de la tierraa decent, dependable person
Swedish Jordens salt
- Jordens salta decent, dependable person
Thai เกลือแห่งโลก, เกลือแห่งแผ่นดินโลก
- เกลือแห่งโลก (glʉʉa-hɛ̀ng-lôok)a decent, dependable person
- เกลือแห่งแผ่นดินโลก (glʉʉa-hɛ̀ng-pɛ̀n-din-lôok)a decent, dependable person
- คนดี (kon-dii)a decent, dependable person
Welsh halen y ddaear
- halen y ddaeara decent, dependable person
Cite this entry
salt of the earth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/salt%20of%20the%20earth
“salt of the earth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/salt%20of%20the%20earth. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “salt of the earth,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/salt%20of%20the%20earth.
Source: salt of the earth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.