Please enable javascript to see: All 23 uses | He sat by the corpse all night, weeping in bitter earnest. – earnest = sincerity – p.244.3 | She earnestly supplicated that I would spare her...

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All 23 Uses of

earnest
in
Wuthering Heights

'Mrs Heathcliff,' I said earnestly, 'you must excuse me for troubling you.†
p. 10.7

earnestly = sincerely or seriously

A wild, wicked slip she was — but she had the bonniest eye, the sweetest smile, and lightest foot in the parish: and, after all, I believe she meant no harm; for when once she made you cry in good earnest, it seldom happened that she would not keep you company, and oblige you to be quiet that you might comfort her.†
p. 29.4

earnest = sincere or serious

And then Mr. Linton, to mend matters, paid us a visit himself on the morrow, and read the young master such a lecture on the road he guided his family, that he was stirred to look about him, in earnest.†
p. 36.1

in earnest = serious; or in a serious manner

They DO live more in earnest, more in themselves, and less in surface, change, and frivolous external things.†
p. 43.9

She dropped down on her knees by a chair, and set to weeping in serious earnest.†
p. 51.4

earnest = sincere or serious

Joseph objected at first; she was too much in earnest, however, to suffer contradiction; and at last he placed his hat on his head, and walked grumbling forth.†
p. 60.2

in earnest = serious; or in a serious manner

He was rather too indulgent in humouring her caprices; not from affection, but from pride: he wished earnestly to see her bring honour to the family by an alliance with the Lintons, and as long as she let him alone she might trample on us like slaves, for aught he cared!†
p. 64.3

earnestly = sincerely or seriously

As the guest answered nothing, but took his seat, and looked thoroughly indifferent what sentiments she cherished concerning him, she turned and whispered an earnest appeal for liberty to her tormentor.†
p. 76.7

earnest = sincere or serious

Cannot you inform him that it is frightful earnest?†
p. 88.1

'Don't YOU see that face?' she inquired, gazing earnestly at the mirror.†
p. 89.8

earnestly = sincerely or seriously

But, at last, I think she begins to know me: I don't perceive the silly smiles and grimaces that provoked me at first; and the senseless incapability of discerning that I was in earnest when I gave her my opinion of her infatuation and herself.†
p. 109.8

in earnest = serious; or in a serious manner

And now he stared at her so earnestly that I thought the very intensity of his gaze would bring tears into his eyes; but they burned with anguish: they did not melt.†
p. 115.4

earnestly = sincerely or seriously

At that earnest appeal he turned to her, looking absolutely desperate.†
p. 117.1

earnest = sincere or serious

'For one hour,' he pleaded earnestly.†
p. 118.4

earnestly = sincerely or seriously

She earnestly supplicated that I would spare her one or two.†
p. 165.9

He was in earnest: in love, really.†
p. 169.8

in earnest = serious; or in a serious manner

'Well, Ellen, you won't cry about it, will you?' she exclaimed, surprised at my earnestness.†
p. 181.9

earnestness = sincerity or seriousness

I, for my part, began to fancy my forebodings were false, and that he must be actually rallying, when he mentioned riding and walking on the moors, and seemed so earnest in pursuing his object.†
p. 188.7

earnest = sincere or serious

She did not stay to retaliate, but re-entered in a minute, bearing a reaming silver pint, whose contents I lauded with becoming earnestness.†
p. 225.1

earnestness = sincerity or seriousness

'Come, then,' he whispered earnestly.†
p. 232.9

earnestly = sincerely or seriously

About HER I won't speak; and I don't desire to think; but I earnestly wish she were invisible: her presence invokes only maddening sensations.†
p. 235.1

He muttered detached words also; the only one I could catch was the name of Catherine, coupled with some wild term of endearment or suffering; and spoken as one would speak to a person present; low and earnest, and wrung from the depth of his soul.†
p. 241.6

earnest = sincere or serious

He sat by the corpse all night, weeping in bitter earnest.
p. 244.3 *

earnest = sincerity

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Highlighting 2 Senses of the Word

Definitions:

(1) (earnest)
characterized by sincere belief

or:

intensely or excessively serious or determined
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

Earnest can also be used as a name (variant spelling of Ernest), or to signify the seriousness of a pledge made (as when earnest money is included with an offer to purchase a home).