planet-bound adj.

unable or unwilling to leave a planet

  • 1944 L. Brackett Veil of Astellar in Thrilling Wonder Stories Spring 53/1 page image Leigh Brackett bibliography

    You planet-bound people build your four little walls of thought and roof them in with convention, and you think there’s nothing else. But space is big, and there are other worlds, and other ways.

  • 1951 P. Anderson Tiger by Tale in Planet Stories Jan. 40/2 Poul Anderson bibliography

    That wasn’t too surprising, since the Terrestrial Empire and the half-dozen other civilized states in the known Galaxy ruled over several thousands of intelligent races and had some contact with nobody knew how many thousands more. Many of the others were, of course, still planet-bound, but quite a few tribes along the Imperial borders had mastered a lot of human technology without changing their fundamental outlook on things.

  • 1951 Astounding Science Fiction Mar. 13/1

    And as Ulphi’s entire population was planet-bound by congenital space-fear, the skiff would provide any required amount of transportation, while serving principally as living quarters and a work-office.

  • 1960 A. E. Nourse Nine Planets 280 Alan E. Nourse

    Conceivably, the cosmic histories will look upon the First Era of any intelligent race as the planetbound era, and consider the Second Era begun only when the race has lifted itself by the bootstraps up through the planet’s gravitational field and into space beyond its atmosphere.

  • 1970 A. McCaffrey Ship who Sang (1991) iii.81 Anne McCaffrey

    She waited, alert, lest the instability of the spaceport field became too critical for her to remain planetbound.

  • 1981 ‘C. J. Cherryh’ Pride of Chanur (1991) i. 7 C. J. Cherryh

    Her brother Kohan was still fit enough, planet-bound as he was and not gifted with the time-stretch of jump.

  • 1987 O. Butler Dawn (1991) i. v. 36 Octavia E. Butler bibliography

    It would die without us and we would be planetbound without it.

  • 1994 M. Armstrong Mother to Elves in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction June 88 page image Michael Armstrong bibliography

    She understood that to the starfolk the journey didn’t take all that long, only a few months, but to the planetbound the journey took almost forever.

  • 2008 K. K. Rusch Room of Lost Souls in Asimov’s Science Fiction Apr.–May 174 page image Kristine Kathryn Rusch bibliography

    He captained a ship, but in the old-fashioned way—not as a hands-on pilot, but as a planetbound owner, who told others what to do.

  • 2019 Y. H. Lee Dragon Pearl i. 4 Yoon Ha Lee bibliography

    We lived disguised as humans and rarely used our abilities to shape-shift or Charm people. Mom insisted that we behave as proper, civilized gumiho so we wouldn’t get in trouble with our fellow steaders, planet-bound residents of Jinju.


Research requirements

antedating 1944

Earliest cite

Leigh Brackett

Research History
Fred Galvin submitted a 1960 cite from Alan E. Nourse's "Nine Planets".
Jeff Prucher submitted a cite from a 2002 reprint of Theodore Sturgeon's 1956 "The Claustrophile".
Fred Galvin submitted a cite from a 1985 reprint of Andre Norton's 1955 "The Last Planet".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1951 cite from Poul Anderson's "Tiger by the Tail".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1951 cite from James H. Schmitz's "Space Fear".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1946 cite from Rog Phillips's "Battle of the Gods" (possibly in the rare sense 'headed towards a planet').
Fred Galvin submitted a 1956 cite from Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Death Between the Stars".
Fred Galvin submitted a cite from a 1977 reprint of Leigh Brackett's 1944 "The Veil of Astellar"; Jesse Sheidlower verified it in its first publication (Thrilling Wonder Stories, Spring, 1944).
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2019 cite from Yoon Ha Lee.

Last modified 2021-03-31 15:26:20
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.