Earnest

How to spell earnest

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce earnest

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does earnest mean?

1. adjectiveSincere and seriously committed, showing genuine and heartfelt intent.
2. nounSerious and sincere intention, as opposed to joking, usually in the phrase 'in earnest'.

Earnest in a sentence

• adjective

  She made an earnest effort to repay every debt on time.

• noun

  The renovation work began in earnest once the permits arrived.

• adjective

  His earnest apology convinced the manager that he truly regretted the error.

• noun

  After months of casual chat, the negotiations were finally conducted in earnest.

Where does earnest come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from the Old English noun eornost, which meant 'seriousness', 'zeal', or even 'a fight in deadly seriousness'. It traces back to a Germanic root shared with the Old High German ernust and the modern German Ernst, both carrying the sense of grave determination. Originally English used it as a noun, as in the surviving phrase 'in earnest', meaning with serious intent rather than in jest. By the Middle Ages it had also settled into use as an adjective describing a person who is sincere and deeply committed. The spelling keeps the older 'ear' opening even though the modern pronunciation sounds like 'urn', which is exactly the trap: it is not spelled 'ernest' or 'urnest'. The man's name Ernest shares the same Germanic root and meaning.

How the word is built

• earn- (from Old English eornost: seriousness, zeal)
• -est (part of the original stem, not a suffix)