the salt of the earth

the salt of the earth

A person or group that is regarded as genuine, unpretentious, and morally sound. This phrase is typically complimentary. Don't worry, even with all his success, Robert is still the salt of the earth. He donates most of his salary to charity and volunteers weekly at the hospital.
See also: earth, of, salt
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

salt of the earth

Fig. the most worthy of people; a very good or worthy person. (A biblical reference, Matthew 5:13.) Mrs. Jones is the salt of the earth. She is the first to help anyone in trouble. Frank's mother is the salt of the earth. She has five children of her own and yet fosters three others.
See also: earth, of, salt
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

salt of the earth, the

The best or noblest of their kind, as in These campers are the salt of the earth. This metaphoric term was used by Jesus for those who were persecuted for being loyal to him (Matthew 5:13) and has been repeated ever since.
See also: of, salt
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

the salt of the earth

If you describe someone as the salt of the earth, you mean that they are ordinary, honest and reliable and good. Previously, footballers were seen as working-class heroes, the salt of the earth. She's very good-hearted, the salt of the earth — as Liverpool people are. Note: Salt-of-the-earth can be used before a noun. Most of the people there are salt-of-the-earth, good, working-class people striving to improve themselves. Note: This comes from the Bible, when Jesus is talking to His disciples: `Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?' (Matthew 5:13)
See also: earth, of, salt
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

the salt of the earth

a person or group of people of great kindness, reliability, or honesty.
This phrase comes from Matthew 5:13: ‘Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?’
See also: earth, of, salt
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

the salt of the ˈearth

a very good and honest person that you can always depend on: Tim’s the salt of the earth — he’d do anything he can for you. OPPOSITE: the scum of the earthThis expression comes from the Bible.
See also: earth, of, salt
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

salt of the earth

1. A person or group considered as embodying simplicity and moral integrity.
2. Archaic A person or group considered the best or most worthy part of society.
See also: earth, of, salt
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.

salt of the earth, the

An individual or group of people considered to be the best or noblest of the kind. Salt has long been considered a valuable commodity, and this metaphor dates from biblical times. According to the Gospel of Matthew (5:13), Jesus told those who were persecuted for their loyalty to him, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” The term has been so used ever since.
See also: of, salt
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • salt of the earth
  • salt of the earth, the
  • lex dubia non obligat
  • a penny for them
  • be on the straight and narrow
  • keep on the straight and narrow
  • keep to the straight and narrow
  • keep to, stay on, etc. the straight and narrow
  • stay on the straight and narrow
  • stay to the straight and narrow
References in periodicals archive
Nominated for the Nobel Prize, no less than Thomas Mann called The Salt of the Earth "mythical and epical."
The Salt of the Earth
'We are the salt of the earth because Jesus called us by that name and the implication is that we are to bring joy to people.
Adeboye speaks on a 'New Name' at Holy Ghost Congress
In other words, are we being the salt of the earth? Terri Whitaker, terripwhitaker@ gmail.com
thought for the day
With the second person indicative mood, Jesus is making the bold statement that those in the audience are the salt of the earth, and not that they were the useless salt now only left to be trampled.
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany February 6, 2011
Paul Hegarty is the salt of the earth. Heroic player, former Scotland captain, respected coach, all-round good guy.
Daggers are out for Hegs
"European Peasant Cookery" is a guide to the cuisine of the salt of the earth of classical Europe.
European Peasant Cookery
If our Catholic periodicals, like the salt of the earth, lose their taste, then what can we be salted with?
Paying the piper
Because you're the salt of the earth and are always willing to shell out hard cash to aid a community in need.
Sunday Mercury says: Splashing out
But Elizabeth Fawcett, 75, who moved a year ago to work for a Christian body, said: "People here are the salt of the earth. My life is more fulfilled.
Gran life up North
The Holy Father has called us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world and he taught us what he means by it.
WYD: a pilgrim's view
"Misspellings" of this kind are a survival of an older and less tractable sensibility in the language--bred in the bone, as Tyndale's "the salt of the earth" and "pearls before swine" and "the powers that be" are set in our speech.
Clarity, Speed, Humility, Courage
With all of these contemporary examples before me, I began to reflect on what I hear in Jesus' words to his disciples that they are "the salt of the earth."
Salt a symbol of commitment, desolation
He could get mushy, and a bit condescending, on the subject of the comman man; at Coney Island in the course of his Sweet Life jaunt, he relishes the wild diversity, then turns pious, blathering about "the salt of the earth, all the little people who make the world tick." Though he never again found a subject as enthralling or as emblematic as Vali and her Saint-Germain-des-Pres crew, van der Elsken was always on the lookout for signs of revolt.
CAFE NOIR
But the idea of the University itself, of scholarly corporations and their collective nature, the conviction that this scientific body has the right to judge and to criticize the actions of the powers that be, the conviction that, as the keepers of the law and knowledge, they are the salt of the earth - all these maxims of our current intellectual life would have been impossible without the sixteenth-century "conservators."
Le Parti conservateur au XVIe siecle: Universite et Parlement de Paris a l'epoque de la Renaissance et de la Reforme
Tonight at the 10th Lemesos International Documentary festival, the documentary The Salt of the Earth will be screened at 8.30pm.
The Earth and its beauty