Both Uses of
earnest
in
Good Country People
- He paused and gave her a straight earnest look and said, "Lady, I've come to speak of serious things."
*earnest = sincere or serious
- "He who losest his life shall find it," he said simply and he was so sincere, so genuine and earnest that: Mrs. Hopewell would not for the world have smiled.†
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).