earthy

adj

Etymology: From Middle English erthy, equivalent to earth + -y. Compare German erdig (“earthy”), Swedish jordig (“earthy”).

1. Resembling dirt or soil (i.e. earth).

   “The earthy smell of fresh turned loam told me the farmer had started plowing this morning, the definitive sign of spring for me.”

2. Composed, or largely composed, of soil.

   “Beyond here the tides are not felt, and we now entered upon a district of elevated forest, with a finer vegetation. Large trees stretch out their arms across the stream, and the steep, earthy banks are clothed with ferns and zingiberaceous plants.”

3. Down-to-earth, not artificial, natural.

   “She was an earthy soul, the salt of the earth as they say of such rural folk, untarnished by false civilization.”

   “Meekly thou didſt reſign this earthy load / Of Death, call'd Life;”

4. Coarse and unrefined, crude.

   “earthy humour”

5. Like or resembling the earth or of the earth.
6. Covered with earth (mud, dirt).

   “He was wet through with the dew and quite earthy from diving into the burrows the Boy had made for him in the flower bed, and Nana grumbled as she rubbed him off with a corner of her apron.”