All 10 Uses of
earnest
in
Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis
- The earnest virgins were, she fancied, as likely to do harm as to do good by their faith in the value of parsing Caesar.†
Chpt 1 *earnest = sincere or serious
- He gravely taught them the letters on the backs of the encyclopedias, and when polite visitors asked about the mental progress of the "little ones," they were horrified to hear the children earnestly repeating A-And, And-Aus, Aus-Bis, Bis-Cal, Cal-Cha.†
Chpt 1earnestly = sincerely or seriously
- But still, they are so earnest.†
Chpt 5earnest = sincere or serious
- Kennicott went from shop to shop, earnestly hunting down a felt-covered device to keep the windshield of his car clear of rain.†
Chpt 17earnestly = sincerely or seriously
- They were exhilarated to find that they agreed in confession of faith: "People like Sam Clark and Harry Haydock aren't earnest about music and pictures and eloquent sermons and really refined movies, but then, on the other hand, people like Carol Kennicott put too much stress on all this art.†
Chpt 21earnest = sincere or serious
- Hugh lay on his stomach, making an earnest business of sleeping.†
Chpt 23
- He turned squarely from her and, peering earnestly at Kennicott, resumed, "Doctor, what's been your experience with unilateral pyelonephritis?†
Chpt 24earnestly = sincerely or seriously
- Kennicott was upon his back, flapping his hands in the earnest effort to be a seal, thrilled by the strength with which his son kicked him.†
Chpt 25earnest = sincere or serious
- But as she dusted the living-room, mended a collar-band, bathed Hugh, she was picturing herself and a young artistan Apollo nameless and evasive—building a house in the Berkshires or in Virginia; exuberantly buying a chair with his first check; reading poetry together, and frequently being earnest over valuable statistics about labor; tumbling out of bed early for a Sunday walk, and chattering (where Kennicott would have yawned) over bread and butter by a lake.†
Chpt 29
- Vida Sherwin had given her a letter to an earnest woman with eye-glasses, plaid silk waist, and a belief in Bible Classes, who introduced her to the Pastor and the Nicer Members of Tincomb.†
Chpt 37
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).