1
: a serious and intent mental state
a proposal made in earnest
2
: a considerable or impressive degree or amount
the sap started running in earnest
Synonyms
Adjective
- grave
- humorless
- no-nonsense
- po-faced [British]
- sedate
- serious
- severe
- sober
- sobersided
- solemn
- staid
- uncomic
- unsmiling
- weighty
Noun (1)
Examples of earnest in a Sentence
Adjective
Barnum's antics provoked tongue-in-cheek reporting and nods and winks in the newspapers, but no earnest cries of humbug. The artful deceiver turned fraud into family fun.
—
Jackson Lears, New Republic, 12 Nov. 2001
Students of all ages were forced to watch these earnest but bizarre short films, which apprised them of such things as the folly of playing on steep precipices overlooking the ocean, the need to minimize one's square-dancing during the early days of the menstrual cycle, the inadvisability of shooting heroin before an important track meet and the necessity of placing the fork to the left of the plate.
—Joe Queenan, New York Times, 20 Jan. 2000
… a Prussian émigré who became a middle-class English gentleman; an angry agitator who spent much of his adult life in the scholarly silence of the British Museum Reading Room; a gregarious and convivial host who fell out with almost all his friends; a devoted family man who impregnated his housemaid; and a deeply earnest philosopher who loved drink, cigars and jokes.
—Francis Wheen, The Nation, 10 July 2000
… a bland expression on my face, looking more innocent than an innocent person has any business looking, I imagined that the sales-women who sometimes glanced over at me saw an earnest young shopper instead of a transparent little klepto.
—Tobias Wolff, Forbes, 20 Mar. 1989
an earnest plea for help
I'll accept only an earnest apology from you.
Noun (1)
On Easter Monday the rain began in earnest.
—Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia, (1977) 2003
The sidewalks were crowded as women and men argued and bargained with each other as the shopping day began in earnest.
—Harold Robbins, The Storyteller, 1985
Books are an addiction, that, when aroused in earnest, is rarely calmed.
—Joseph Epstein, The Middle of My Tether, 1983
The divorce proceedings began in earnest, and they were earnestly vile.
—Angie Bowie et al., US, 23 Nov. 1982
I am in deadly earnest about this marriage proposal
Noun (2)
In 1942, Roosevelt, Stimson, and Marshall all recognized the degree of fraud in MacArthur but let him get away with his act because in those black days morale required an invincible hero in the Pacific as an earnest of eventual victory there.
—Paul Fussell, Wartime, 1989
A large portion of the spoil was set aside to be sent to Carthage as an earnest of the riches of further conquest.
—Ernle Bradford, Hannibal, 1981
When I had promised to pay for his information and given him an earnest, he told me that he had made two journeys between Carfax and a house in Piccadilly, and had taken from this house to the latter nine great boxes, "main heavy ones," with a horse and cart hired by him for this purpose.
—Bram Stoker, Dracula, 1897
Jackson Lears, New Republic, 12 Nov. 2001
Students of all ages were forced to watch these earnest but bizarre short films, which apprised them of such things as the folly of playing on steep precipices overlooking the ocean, the need to minimize one's square-dancing during the early days of the menstrual cycle, the inadvisability of shooting heroin before an important track meet and the necessity of placing the fork to the left of the plate.
—Joe Queenan, New York Times, 20 Jan. 2000
… a Prussian émigré who became a middle-class English gentleman; an angry agitator who spent much of his adult life in the scholarly silence of the British Museum Reading Room; a gregarious and convivial host who fell out with almost all his friends; a devoted family man who impregnated his housemaid; and a deeply earnest philosopher who loved drink, cigars and jokes.
—Francis Wheen, The Nation, 10 July 2000
… a bland expression on my face, looking more innocent than an innocent person has any business looking, I imagined that the sales-women who sometimes glanced over at me saw an earnest young shopper instead of a transparent little klepto.
—Tobias Wolff, Forbes, 20 Mar. 1989
an earnest plea for help
I'll accept only an earnest apology from you.
Noun (1)
On Easter Monday the rain began in earnest.
—Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia, (1977) 2003
The sidewalks were crowded as women and men argued and bargained with each other as the shopping day began in earnest.
—Harold Robbins, The Storyteller, 1985
Books are an addiction, that, when aroused in earnest, is rarely calmed.
—Joseph Epstein, The Middle of My Tether, 1983
The divorce proceedings began in earnest, and they were earnestly vile.
—Angie Bowie et al., US, 23 Nov. 1982
I am in deadly earnest about this marriage proposal
Noun (2)
In 1942, Roosevelt, Stimson, and Marshall all recognized the degree of fraud in MacArthur but let him get away with his act because in those black days morale required an invincible hero in the Pacific as an earnest of eventual victory there.
—Paul Fussell, Wartime, 1989
A large portion of the spoil was set aside to be sent to Carthage as an earnest of the riches of further conquest.
—Ernle Bradford, Hannibal, 1981
When I had promised to pay for his information and given him an earnest, he told me that he had made two journeys between Carfax and a house in Piccadilly, and had taken from this house to the latter nine great boxes, "main heavy ones," with a horse and cart hired by him for this purpose.
—Bram Stoker, Dracula, 1897
Recent Examples on the WebDavid Hajdu, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2024
The sociopolitical implications of his story—desperate poverty, harassment by the police, along with exploitation by the boxing business and its high-handed authorities—are balanced by his earnest self-analyses and the detailing of his home life.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2024
The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 18 Sep. 2024
Yet there’s an undercurrent of uncertainty hovering over everything, as if Janet is waiting for her life to start in earnest and Lacy is unsure whether anything less than her mom’s full, undivided attention is enough to sustain her through childhood’s eventual end.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 25 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for earnest 
Adjective
In the height of the singer-songwriter era, when earnest autobiographical confessions were prized as tokens of authenticity, Newman’s use of sarcasm and unlikable protagonists was an act of literary radicalism in pop music.
—David Hajdu, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2024
The sociopolitical implications of his story—desperate poverty, harassment by the police, along with exploitation by the boxing business and its high-handed authorities—are balanced by his earnest self-analyses and the detailing of his home life.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2024
Noun
The General Assembly should begin work in earnest in next year’s session on a comprehensive plan to forestall these calamities.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 18 Sep. 2024
Yet there’s an undercurrent of uncertainty hovering over everything, as if Janet is waiting for her life to start in earnest and Lacy is unsure whether anything less than her mom’s full, undivided attention is enough to sustain her through childhood’s eventual end.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 25 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for earnest
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'earnest.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near earnest
Cite this Entry
“Earnest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/earnest. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
earnest
1 of 2 noun
ear·nest
ˈər-nəst 
: a serious state of mind
a promise made in earnest
earnest
2 of 2 adjective1
: having or showing a serious attitude : not light or playful
made an earnest request
earnestly
adverb
Legal Definition
earnest
noun
ear·nest
ˈər-nəst
: something of value given by a buyer to a seller to bind a bargain
Etymology
Noun
Anglo-French ernes(t), erles, alteration of Old French erres, plural of erre pledge, earnest, alteration of Latin arra, short for arrabo, from Greek arrhabōn, of Semitic origin
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