20 uses
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Definition
characterized by sincere belief
or:
intensely or excessively serious
or:
intensely or excessively serious
- He didn't merely think it— he was so in earnest that he spoke it out loud.3.7 - But of Course—a Female! (55% in)
- And Dr. Krokowski, sitting five paces away at the desk, showed he had heard by lowering his head—pressing his chin against his chest so earnestly that the tips of his beard curled to points on each side.4.10 - The Thermometer (87% in)
- Then he admitted that it was a matter that one should look into and earnestly commissioned her to find out what could be found out about the comings and goings of this fellow countryman.5.2 - My God, I See It! (29% in)
- But Joachim would surely know, and it did not appear as if he were about to defer to the lady present, despite the troubled, earnest look Hans Castorp threw him.5.2 - My God, I See It! (66% in)
- Hans Castorp, in particular, had the funny feeling that in this locale a basic fact of life—which is granted sufficient importance everywhere in the world, whether spoken of in earnest or jest—acquired an accent, a value, a pattern of meaning so serious, and by its very seriousness so new, that this basic fact was cast in an entirely new light, which, if not absolutely appalling, was at least appalling in its newness.5.5 - Encyclopedia (7% in)
- Settembrini asked, and with such earnest expectation of an answer that Hans Castorp found himself forced to admit that this was the first he had heard of it.5.5 - Encyclopedia (90% in)
- One can even view it in dead earnest if one likes— although, after all, it's not exactly appropriate on a coffee service.5.6 - Humaniora (68% in)
- Snow began to accumulate in earnest and present difficulties.5.7 - Research (6% in)
- And since the adjective "stunning" had been used for "splendid" or "excellent" for quite some time now—was totally washed out, enervated, prostituted, and therefore obsolete—she had of late seized upon the word "devastating," and now found everything "devastating," whether in earnest or in jest: the bobsled run, their dessert dumplings, and her own body warmth, which sounded equally repulsive coming from her.5.8 - Danse Macabre (34% in)
- There is something devilishly earnest about it all, something 'ascetic,' if you will—that was, I believe, the term you were kind enough to use just now—and one must always reckon that one will have to deal with death, just as, ultimately, the clergy must deal with it as well—with what else, really?6.2 - Someone Else (55% in)
- Until Behrens discharged him as cured—in earnest, not like today.6.4 - An Outburst of Temper / Something Very Embarrassing (63% in)
- Would anyone venture in all earnestness to declare as barbaric and inhumane the self-flagellation practiced among members of certain orders and sects, and in general by people of more profound capacities, in order that they might strengthen their own spiritual principles?6.6 - Operationes Spirituales (54% in)
- ...he meant the gentle reverence, which, though hidden beneath smiles, they showed one another at every turn, almost imperceptible and yet so evident in both the physical connections and the deep-seated ideals that bound them all; he meant the dignity, bordering on gravity, though totally fused with good cheer, which alone defined their every deed, an ineffable spiritual influence, earnest yet never gloomy, devout yet always reasonable— though not lacking a certain ceremonial quality.6.7 - Snow (81% in)
- Joachim grasped Frau Ziemssen's hand with hands that were as yellow and wasted as his emaciated face, from which his ears, the one minor sorrow of his youth, stuck out more than ever; but despite that regrettable disfigurement, suffering had stamped his face with an expression of austere earnestness, even pride, and he still looked very manly—although the lips beneath his dark little moustache seemed too full now against the shadows of his hollow cheeks.6.8 - A Good Soldier (86% in)
- Joachim, whose expression so far had been earnest and honorable, began to smile under his beard.6.8 - A Good Soldier (99% in)
- "—"My child," he continued now in an earnest, almost stern voice, "that exceeds my every expectation.7.2 - Mynheer Peeperkorn (55% in)
- And each time rascal luck tickled their nerves, there would be a moment of exaltation or despair, an eruption of anger or a hysterical fit of laughter, and all their outbursts were in genuine earnest and would have sounded no different had these been the ups and downs in life's fortunes.7.3 - Vingt et un (36% in)
- And if you are for values, then, in the end, personality is a positive value, too, I should think—a more positive value than stupidity or cleverness, positive in the highest degree, absolutely positive, like life itself—in short, a value for life and in that sense suitable for our earnest consideration.7.4 - Mynheer Peeperkorn (Continued) (26% in)
- Although whatever that was on his head cast a long shadow, his emaciated face visibly bore the stamp of suffering and the same austere, earnest expression that had made him look so manly.7.8 - Highly Questionable (96% in)
- They clawed faces, pinched noses, clutched throats, all the while punching away at one another, grappling, rolling about on the floor in terribly dead earnest; they spat, kicked, grabbed, trounced, whacked, and frothed at the mouth.7.9 - The Great Petulance (13% in)
There are no more uses of "earnest" in The Magic Mountain.
Typical Usage
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