Sample sentences for EARNEST - verbalworkout.com

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Definition

characterized by sincere belief

or:

intensely or excessively serious

I began training in earnest the summer before high school.

in earnest = in a serious manner

I believe her. She seemed earnest.

earnest = sincere

She has a casual, go-with-the-flow personality and doesn't appreciate his earnestness.

earnestness = seriousness

(Editor's note: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.)

Both sides were deeply in earnest, even passionate.

in earnest = serious

We loved Shaw's comedy, "The Importance of Being Earnest".

earnest = sincere

"You think on it, Winnie Foster," Jesse whispered earnestly.
Natalie Babbitt -- Tuck Everlasting

earnestly = sincerely

Kit laughed, then took the child's hands in her own and spoke as earnestly as she knew how. "You trust me, don't you?"
Elizabeth George Speare -- The Witch of Blackbird Pond

earnestly = sincerely

It has a certain earnest, working-class sound about it.
Roger Zelazny -- Lord of Light

earnest = sincere

Smugness faded from it, replaced by a dogged earnestness that fooled Judge Taylor not at all: as long as Mr. Ewell was on the stand, the judge kept his eyes on him, as if daring him to make a false move.
Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird

earnestness = sincerity or seriousness

(Editor's note: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.)

Over this he prayed long and earnestly.
Alan Paton -- Cry, the Beloved Country

earnestly = sincerely with seriousness

He sat by the corpse all night, weeping in bitter earnest.
Emily Bronte -- Wuthering Heights

earnest = sincerity

the men and women who come to us for an education are in earnest;
Booker T. Washington -- Up From Slavery: An Autobiography

in earnest = serious

How earnestly did she then wish that her former opinions had been more reasonable, her expressions more moderate!
Jane Austen -- Pride and Prejudice

earnestly = sincerely

He shook his head earnestly.
Rick Riordan -- The Sea of Monsters

earnestly = sincerely or seriously

I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it to the earnestness of others.
Nicholas Sparks -- A Walk to Remember

earnestness = sincerity or seriousness

(Editor's note: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.)

"No, no," said Scrooge, "I am in earnest."
Charles Dickens -- A Christmas Carol

in earnest = serious

The earnestness of my manner, and the tears in my eyes, alarmed her.
Charles Dickens -- David Copperfield

earnestness = excessive seriousness

(Editor's note: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.)

I say that we have never sat down in earnest together to try and get at the bottom of anything.
Henrik Ibsen -- A Doll's House

in earnest = in a serious manner

I trust, Jane, you are in earnest when you say you will serve your heart to God:
Charlotte Bronte -- Jane Eyre

in earnest = serious

he grew more and more discontented with his desultory life, began to long for some real and earnest work to go at,
Louisa May Alcott -- Little Women

earnest = serious

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