as in solemn
not joking or playful in mood or manner
I'll accept only an earnest apology from you
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in intentness
a mental state free of jesting or trifling
I am in deadly earnest about this marriage proposal
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of earnest
Jason Kirk, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
Enter Ned Sampson, an ebullient, well-meaning, and overly earnest Softees salesman extraordinaire who’s transferred from Chicago to Toledo to run TTT.
—Michael M. Rosen, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
Sydney Lake, Fortune, 13 July 2025
The contract can’t be made official until the start of the new league year when free agency starts in earnest on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Brown has a background with defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero as well as new outside linebackers coach A.C. Carter.
—Mike Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 10 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for earnest
Adjective
On the other side, Gunner Stockton took four sacks, and UGA’s running game never got going in earnest.
—Jason Kirk, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
Enter Ned Sampson, an ebullient, well-meaning, and overly earnest Softees salesman extraordinaire who’s transferred from Chicago to Toledo to run TTT.
—Michael M. Rosen, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
Noun
Earnings seasons get going in earnest over the coming week, with Wall Street eager to find out how much of the tariff are impacting margins.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 13 July 2025
The contract can’t be made official until the start of the new league year when free agency starts in earnest on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Brown has a background with defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero as well as new outside linebackers coach A.C. Carter.
—Mike Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 10 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for earnest
Recent Examples of Synonyms for earnest
Adjective
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On Monday, her husband, the Duke of Kent, and daughter Lady Helen Taylor appeared solemn as her coffin was taken by hearse from Kensington Palace to Westminster Cathedral for a private vigil.—
Jack Royston,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
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No happening is too solemn, in this world, for a heaping portion of unabashed self-promotion.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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And at what point will the FO/Doc accept that—even with Conforto’s lucky strike last night—no serious team can use a Conforto-Pages-Teo outfield—in the field and at the plate—and hope to contend in the way this team should?—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
13 Sep. 2025
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While the classic grounds for denaturalization include concealment of criminal histories or material lies in the naturalization process, there are growing indications that serious tax fraud may be viewed as evidence that naturalization was procured illegally or fraudulently.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
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For the Television Academy to recognize Hiller’s role in this show seems like a vote not just for a moving and intuitive performance, but also for earnestness.—
Paula Mejía,
The Atlantic,
15 Sep. 2025
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The earnestness with which chef-couple Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu approach their vision makes Sun Moon Studio feel like a collaborative culinary experiment, a team project you’ve been invited to join in on.—
The Bon Appétit Staff,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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In fact, Baltimore has received a stern warning on closing out big games from former All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson.—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Sep. 2025
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Shatter and Falconi had formed Flipper in the late 1970s Bay Area at the dawn of hardcore, the tougher and sterner punk variant that had a stronghold in California.—
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
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And hopefully, this early public investment will pay off big time as private companies find many commercial uses for low Earth orbit, such as zero-gravity hotels for space tourism or mini-factories for producing specialty materials.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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In this case, the new, smaller black hole that formed from the collision shot through space at more than 31 miles per second – fast enough to escape its host galaxy and the surrounding globular cluster of stars bound together by gravity.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Earnest.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/earnest. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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