What does earnest mean?
Earnest means Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness..
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/ˈɝ.nɪst/ · noun
Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness..
1914, February 13, The Times, Obituary: Canon Augustus Jessopp He wrote well in a forcible, colloquial style, with the air of being tremendously in earnest, and full of knowledge which overflowed his pages, tricked out with somewhat boisterous illustrations.
Take heed that this jest do not one day turn to earnest.
That high All-Seer which I dallied with / Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head / And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest.
Let's prove among ourselves our armes in jest, That when we come to earnest them with men, We may them better use.
earnest prayers
earnest attention
an earnest disposition
earnest efforts
Use earnest when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Earnest means Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness..
Common synonyms include authentic, actual, bona fide, genuine.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
1914, February 13, The Times, Obituary: Canon Augustus Jessopp He wrote well in a forcible, colloquial style, with the air of being tremendously in earnest, and full of knowledge which overflowed his pages, tricked out with somewhat boisterous illustrations.
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