Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use earnest in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb, adjective

Earnest means gravity; serious purpose; earnestness. Example: “His face fit his roles: now smiling, now earnest, now glowering, now raging.”

Examples of earnest by meaning

adjectivePossessing or characterised by seriousness.

  • an earnest disposition

nounA sum of money paid in advance as a deposit; hence, a pledge, a guarantee, an indication of something to come.

  • But if all this was viewed by Gladstone and the Cabinet as an earnest of St Petersburg's future good intentions in Central Asia, then disillusionment was soon to follow.1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 365

More sentences with earnest

  • His face fit his roles: now smiling, now earnest, now glowering, now raging.From the entry now
  • He was talking in earnest, even though his speech carried an ironic tone.From the entry in earnest
  • With only five minutes until we were meant to leave, the search for the keys started in earnest.From the entry search
  • It's snowing in earnest right now.From the entry in earnest
  • Then an earnest elaboration: “It’s just nice that other people understand what I’m thinking.2023 August 31, Frankie de la Cretaz, “Postcard from Camp Gaylore”, in Cosmopolitan, archived from the original on 26 Dec 2023. From the entry pronoun
  • Zuckerberg’s repositioning of Meta started in earnest last year, when he began rearranging his bench of lieutenants.2022 July 26, Mike Isaac, “‘Operating With Increased Intensity’: Zuckerberg Leads Meta Into Next Phase”, in The New York Times. From the entry bench
  • The answer was not a great deal - a lot of earnest debate, but little proactivity.2021 April 7, Steve Broadbent, “SELRAP: 20 years of (slow) progress”, in RAIL, number 928, page 48. From the entry proactivity
  • In between the adorable, tweet-worthy soundbites, Emma asks me earnest questions.2020 January 3, Jared Bilski, “What a hermit crab named Nigel taught me about death and parenting”, in The Washington Post. From the entry tweetworthy
  • Hearthstoners, you may begin your theorycrafting and deck plans in earnest.2018 November 29, Alice O'Connor, “Hearthstone: Rastakhan's Rumble cards now all revealed”, in Rock Paper Shotgun, archived from the…. From the entry Hearthstoner
  • They called out her earnest theater-kid personality, claiming the “perception of her irritating-ness is pretty widespread.”2018 June 11, Sonia Rao, “Anne Hathaway’s performance in ‘Ocean’s 8’ will even win over the Hathahaters”, in The Washington Post…. From the entry Hathahater
  • Panic is immune to debate, to analysis, to earnest and cognitively therapeutic bullet points.2009, Michael Marshall, Bad Things, →ISBN, page 29. From the entry bullet point
  • The all-important New York Times review by Brooks Atkinson called him "earnest and attractive".2006, Suzanne Finstad, Warren Beatty: A Private Man, →ISBN, page 221. From the entry come up roses
  • Our coast watching activities were now about to begin in earnest.2006, A. B. Feuer, Coast Watching in World War II, page 45. From the entry teleradio
  • It could all be deadly earnest if she didn't have a sense of humor.2005 September 30, Jeffrey Weiss, “Review of Christine Wicker, Not in Kansas Anymore”, in The Dallas Morning News. From the entry muggle
  • By forcing their suitors to be earnest or sincere, the women psychodramatically circumscribe them.1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae. From the entry psychodramatically
  • Insull was English, from an earnest, teetotalling family of modest means.1976, Sheldon M. Novick, The Electric War: The Fight Over Nuclear Power. From the entry teetotaling
  • I could eat Wienerschnitzel all night.” Louise looked eager and earnest.1967, Clifford Hanley, The Hot Month. From the entry wienerschnitzel
  • Many of the most earnest Protestants were business men, to whom lending money at interest was essential.1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.21. From the entry sanction
  • Once he had absorbed the ‘outside’ news the night’s new the conversation started in earnest.1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 44. From the entry plant
  • For years, Hathaway has been the Hermione Granger of Hollywood – earnest, hardworking, and successful, but regularly dismissed as over-eager.2026 June 29, Lily Hardman, “2026 is the year of Anne Hathaway, we’re just lucky to be here”, in Far Out Magazine, archived from the…. From the entry Hermione Granger
  • Ealing comedy was a reaction against the sort of earnest fare the Ealing Studios themselves had produced in wartime.2023 July 27, David Stubbs, Different Times: A History of British Comedy, Faber & Faber, →ISBN, page 1886. From the entry Ealing comedy
  • I made awkward small talk with my seat neighbor and high-tailed it home before the socializing began in earnest.2022 April 5, Michal Leibowitz, “'I Didn't Feel Like Going, but I'm Glad I Did': My Motto of the Moment”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry hightail it
  • But on the day the Tory leadership contest launched in earnest, Gove insisted he was still “in it to win it”.2019 June 10, Heather Stewart, “Gove reboots Tory leadership bid with attack on Johnson”, in The Guardian. From the entry blow off course
  • The historians of the future may engage in a similar debate about when Cold War II started in earnest.2018 April 15, Michael Lind, “America vs. Russia and China: Welcome to Cold War II”, in The National Interest. From the entry Cold War II
  • But I take pleasure in the simple things—a beautiful sunset, an earnest smile, a man who can cook . . .”2017, Lori Wilde (pseudonym; Laurie Vanzura), Cowboy, It’s Cold Outside (Twilight, Texas), Avon Books, →ISBN, page 182. From the entry grammie
  • There is nothing frothy nor fake about her, as far as I can tell, and her earnest up-frontness is bracing.2017 October 30, Rosa Silverman, “Nicola Roberts: 'Girls Aloud got away with absolute murder'”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily…. From the entry upfrontness
  • Outnumbered by earnest goodwillers, he agrees to visit the Queen.2013, Susann Cokal, The Kingdom of Little Wounds - Page 106. From the entry goodwiller
  • To the sizable antispace contingent in Congress, Nixon promised an earnest effort to "minimize technical and economic risks"2012, Matthew H. Hersch, Inventing the American Astronaut, →ISBN, page 144. From the entry antispace
  • He is a good value—earnest, sympathetic, solid to the bone and not overcomplicated—just the way you′d hope your undertaker would be.2007, Richard Ford, The Lay of the Land, page 95. From the entry good value
  • Well, it is my earnest hope that this repast augurs the foundation of a mutual confelicity between us."2002, Edward Cline, Sparrowhawk, Book Two: Hugh Kenick, MacAdam/Cage, →ISBN, page 191. From the entry confelicity
  • Even in his new, earnest, underspoken self.2002, Peter Carnahan, Pharnabazus Sits on the Ground with the Spartan Captains, page 77. From the entry underspoken
  • They rolled down the hills with hands full of the white stuff which was coming down in earnest.2001, Andrei Codrescu, An Involuntary Genius in America's Shoes (and what Happened Afterwards), page 290. From the entry white stuff
  • Gradually his scribblemania developed in real earnest.1999, Lewis Carroll Studies, number 1, page 60. From the entry scribblemania
  • We now had no alternative but to resort to civil disobedience, and we embarked in earnest on preparations for mass action.1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 146. From the entry civil disobedience
  • An earnest lawman given to fussy detail, constitutionolatry, and dryness of touch, he drily allowed Pierce to keep the field.1980 winter, Walter N. Trenerry, “Last Campaign of the Civil War: Aged Minnesota Veteran Takes On the GAR”, in Minnesota History, volume…. From the entry constitutionolatry
  • She says my name in that heavy earnest way.1979, Doris Lessing, Shikasta, Knopf, published 1979, →ISBN, page 293. From the entry rachel
  • But how very young and earnest we looked then!1974, The Spectator, page 351. From the entry hevelled
  • But their nonchalance is too earnest: the effect is chalance.1961, Time - Volume 77, Part 2, page 44. From the entry chalance

Meaning of earnest

  1. noun Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness.
  2. noun Seriousness; reality; actuality (as opposed to joking or pretence).
  3. verb To be serious with; use in earnest.

Full definition of earnest

Questions about earnest in a sentence

How do you use earnest in a sentence?
Earnest is used as a noun, verb and adjective. For example: “His face fit his roles: now smiling, now earnest, now glowering, now raging.”
What is a short sentence with earnest?
“an earnest disposition”
What does earnest mean?
Earnest means gravity; serious purpose; earnestness.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: earnest (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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