earnest
/ˈɝ.nɪst/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.66 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Intent; focused; showing a lot of concentration.
adj
Possessing or characterised by seriousness.
Example Sentences
- "Take heed that this jest do not one day turn to earnest."
- "That high All-Seer which I dallied with / Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head / And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest."
- "1914, February 13, The Times, Obituary: Canon Augustus Jessopp He wrote well in a forcible, colloquial style, with the air of being tremendously in earnest, and full of knowledge which overflowed his pages, tricked out with somewhat boisterous illustrations."
- "Let's prove among ourselves our armes in jest, That when we come to earnest them with men, We may them better use."
- "earnest prayers"
- "earnest attention"
Etymology
From Middle English ernest, eornest, from Old English eornest, eornost, eornust (“earnestness, zeal, seriousness, battle”), from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz (“earnest, strength, solidity, struggle, fight”), a derivative of Proto-Germanic *arniz (“efficient, capable, diligent, sure”), from Proto-Indo-European *er- (“to cause to move, arouse, increase”). Cognate with West Frisian earnst (“earnest, seriousness”), Dutch ernst (“seriousness, gravity, earnest”), German Ernst (“seriousness, earnestness, zeal, vigour”), Icelandic ern (“brisk, vigorous”), Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌽𐌹𐌱𐌰 (arniba, “secure, certain, sure”). The adjective is from Middle English eornest, from Old English eornoste (“earnest, zealous, serious”), from the noun. Cognate with North Frisian ernste (“earnest”), Middle Low German ernest, ernst (“serious, earnest”), German ernst (“serious, earnest”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɝ.nɪst/
- British English: /ˈɜː.nɪst/
Usage
Inflected Forms
earnests (present, singular)
earnesting (participle, present)
earnested (participle, past)
earnested (past)
earnester (comparative)
more earnest (comparative)
earnestest (superlative)
most earnest (superlative)
earnests (plural)