earnest

Meaning

Noun

1. Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness.
2. Seriousness; reality; actuality (as opposed to joking or pretence)

Verb

To be serious with; use in earnest.

Adj

1. Serious, sincere, ingenuous.
2. Focused in the pursuit of an objective; honestly eager to obtain or do.
3. Intent; focused; showing a lot of concentration.
4. Possessing or characterised by seriousness.
5. Strenuous; diligent.
6. Serious; weighty; of a serious, weighty, or important nature; important.

Verb

second-person singular simple present indicative of earn

Synonyms

serious

solemn

sincere

grave

🪦

zealous

deposit

diligent

ardent

staid

eager

severe

seriousness

devout

sedate

advance

acute

genuine

stern

down payment

strict

conscientious

pledge

urgent

‼️

important

dear

patient

resolute

tense

truthful

heart-whole

cordial

pressing

honest

monetary deposit

security

wholehearted

businesslike

kind

fervid

fervent

compelling

heartfelt

matronly

meaningful

no-nonsense

normal

oppressive

passionate

pragmatical

prepayment

prompt

real

regular

reliable

repeated

responsible

rigid

rigorous

saturnine

sedulous

singlehanded

single-minded

smart

sober

straight

straight ahead

straightforward

⬆️

strained

strenuous

stringent

studious

active

typical

unaffected

ungrudging

urgency

weighty

witty

frank

rathe

just in front of

surety

acuteness

advance payment

artless

assiduous

austere

avid

bona fide

burning

clever

collateral

correct

cruel

demure

determined

emphatic

emulous

enthusiastic

evangelical

face to face

factual

firm

foretaste

formal

full-blown

fundamental

grim

guileless

hasten

heart-to-heart

hearty

impassioned

imperative

incandescent

industriousness

ingenuous

insistent

instalment

intent

keen

kneecap

matronal

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɝ.nɪst/

Etymology

From Middle English ernest, eornest, from Old English eornest, eornost, eornust (“earnestness, zeal, seriousness, battle”), from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz (“earnest, strength, solidity, struggle, fight”), a derivative of Proto-Germanic *arniz (“efficient, capable, diligent, sure”), from Proto-Indo-European *er- (“to cause to move, arouse, increase”). Cognate with West Frisian earnst (“earnest, seriousness”), Dutch ernst (“seriousness, gravity, earnest”), German Ernst (“seriousness, earnestness, zeal, vigour”), Icelandic ern (“brisk, vigorous”), Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌽𐌹𐌱𐌰 (arniba, “secure, certain, sure”).
The adjective is from Middle English eornest, from Old English eornoste (“earnest, zealous, serious”), from the noun. Cognate with North Frisian ernste (“earnest”), Middle Low German ernest, ernst (“serious, earnest”), German ernst (“serious, earnest”).