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Earnest   /ˈərnɪst/   Listen
adjective
Earnest  adj.  
1.
Ardent in the pursuit of an object; eager to obtain or do; zealous with sincerity; with hearty endeavor; heartfelt; fervent; hearty; used in a good sense; as, earnest prayers. "An earnest advocate to plead for him."
2.
Intent; fixed closely; as, earnest attention.
3.
Serious; important. (Obs.) "They whom earnest lets do often hinder."
Synonyms: Eager; warm; zealous; ardent; animated; importunate; fervent; sincere; serious; hearty; urgent. See Eager.


noun
Earnest  n.  Seriousness; reality; fixed determination; eagerness; intentness. "Take heed that this jest do not one day turn to earnest." "And given in earnest what I begged in jest."
In earnest, serious; seriously; not in jest; earnestly.


Earnest  n.  
1.
Something given, or a part paid beforehand, as a pledge; pledge; handsel; a token of what is to come. "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." "And from his coffers Received the golden earnest of our death."
2.
(Law) Something of value given by the buyer to the seller, by way of token or pledge, to bind the bargain and prove the sale.
Earnest money (Law), money paid as earnest, to bind a bargain or to ratify and prove a sale.
Synonyms: Earnest, Pledge. These words are here compared as used in their figurative sense. Earnest is not so strong as pledge. An earnest, like first fruits, gives assurance, or at least a high probability, that more is coming of the same kind; a pledge, like money deposited, affords security and ground of reliance for the future. Washington gave earnest of his talent as commander by saving his troops after Braddock's defeat; his fortitude and that of his soldiers during the winter at Valley Forge might rightly be considered a pledge of their ultimate triumph.


verb
Earnest  v. t.  To use in earnest. (R.) "To earnest them (our arms) with men."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Earnest" Quotes from Famous Books



... be considered as a fresh proof of the interest we take in every event, which may affect your Majesty, and that our sincere condolence, when such afflictions as are the lot of humanity put it out of our power to offer more effectual consolation, will evince our earnest desire on every occasion to ...
— The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. XI • Various
... see in the Continental System of Napoleon the direct outcome of Great Britain's maritime supremacy, and the ultimate cause of his own ruin. Thus, while gathering matter, a conception was forming, which became the dominant feature in my scheme by the time I began to write in earnest. Coincidently with these studies, and with my other occupations when at first president of the College, two introductory chapters had been written; one bridging the interval between 1783 and 1793, so as to hitch on to my first book, the other dealing with the state of ...
— From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life • Captain A. T. Mahan
... all filth, and never let a smile Bend their stern muscles, gloomy, sullen men, Barren of all affection, and all this To please their God, forsooth! and therefore SCORN Grinn'd at his patients, making them repeat Their solemn farce, with keenest raillery Tormenting; but if earnest in their prayer, They pour'd the silent sorrows of the soul To Heaven, then did they not regard his mocks Which then came painless, and HUMILITY Soon rescued them, and led to PENITENCE, That She ...
— Poems, 1799 • Robert Southey
... element, a new source of life and hope. It was this that made it possible for a great French critic to assert that for those who have read Virgil there is nothing astonishing in Christianity.[870] Let us try and realise what these writers mean. The Scotsman is sober and earnest, the Frenchman epigrammatically exaggerating; but the feeling that underlies both utterances ...
— The Religious Experience of the Roman People - From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus • W. Warde Fowler
... ignara mali miseris, &c'. I know of nothing that should bribe me to be present once more at such horrible scenes. Perhaps 'tis as well that we are both acquainted with the extent of the evil, that we may be the more earnest in abstaining from it. You shall ...
— The Works Of Lord Byron, Letters and Journals, Vol. 1 • Lord Byron, Edited by Rowland E. Prothero


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