All 9 Uses of

earnest

in

War and Peace

"Ah, your excellency," put in Zherkov, his eyes fixed on the hussars, but still with that naive air that made it impossible to know whether he was speaking in jest or in earnest.†
Chpt 2

in earnest = serious; or in a serious manner

"Oh, Natasha!" said Sonya, looking ecstatically and earnestly at her friend as if she did not consider her worthy to hear what she meant to say and as if she were saying it to someone else, with whom joking was out of the question, "I am in love with your brother once for all and, whatever may happen to him or to me, shall never cease to love him as long as I live."†
Chpt 3

earnestly = sincerely or seriously

Whether he accepted the wise reasoning contained in the Mason's words, or believed as a child believes, in the speaker's tone of conviction and earnestness, or the tremor of the speaker's voice—which sometimes almost broke—or those brilliant aged eyes grown old in this conviction, or the calm firmness and certainty of his vocation, which radiated from his whole being (and which struck Pierre especially by contrast with his own dejection and hopelessness)—at any rate, Pierre longed with his whole soul to believe and he did believe, and felt a joyful sense of comfort, regeneration, and return to life.†
Chpt 5

earnestness = sincerity or seriousness

Prince Andrew spoke so earnestly that Pierre could not help thinking that these thoughts had been suggested to Prince Andrew by his father's case.†
Chpt 5 *

earnestly = sincerely or seriously

Natasha, I am in earnest...†
Chpt 6

in earnest = serious; or in a serious manner

"Then it's all right?" said Nicholas, again scrutinizing the expression of his sister's face to see if she was in earnest.†
Chpt 7

"Well, the Lord have mercy on us!" said the count, half in jest, half in earnest; but Natasha noticed that her father was flurried on entering the anteroom and inquired timidly and softly whether the prince and princess were at home.†
Chpt 8

Pierre first looked down the field across which vehicles and horsemen were passing that morning, then into the distance across the river, then at the dog who was pretending to be in earnest about biting him, and then at his bare feet which he placed with pleasure in various positions, moving his dirty thick big toes.†
Chpt 13

Only the old countess with her maternal instinct had realized that all Natasha's outbursts had been due to her need of children and a husband—as she herself had once exclaimed at Otradnoe not so much in fun as in earnest—and her mother was now surprised at the surprise expressed by those who had never understood Natasha, and she kept saying that she had always known that Natasha would make an exemplary wife and mother.†
Chpt 15

Definition:

characterized by sincere belief

or:

intensely or excessively serious or determined