earnest
earnest Lexical Profile
earnest Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Resulting from or showing sincere and intense conviction; serious and deeply committed rather than playful or superficial.
"The student made an earnest effort to master the difficult cello concerto before the recital."
• noun
Sincere and serious intention, purpose, or effort (used almost exclusively in the phrase 'in earnest').
"After weeks of preliminary planning, construction on the new library finally began in earnest."
A token, pledge, or partial payment given in advance as a guarantee of what is to come or to bind a contract.
"The buyer paid a small sum as an earnest of his intention to purchase the estate."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse the common adjective and noun 'earnest' (meaning sincere or serious) with the proper male given name 'Ernest', a distinction famously central to Oscar Wilde's play 'The Importance of Being Earnest'. As a noun meaning seriousness, it occurs almost exclusively in the prepositional phrase 'in earnest'.
• Rhymes for earnest
Word Origin & Etymology
The adjective and the noun meaning 'seriousness' derive from Old English 'eornoste' (zeal, seriousness), of Proto-Germanic origin. The distinct noun meaning 'a pledge or token payment' comes via Middle English 'erles' from Old French 'erres', ultimately tracing back to Latin 'arra' (a pledge) and Ancient Greek 'arrhabon', from a Semitic root.