• (America) IPA: /ˈɝ.nɪst/
• (RP) IPA: /ˈɜː.nɪst/

From Middle English ernest, eornest, from Old English eornest, eornost, eornust ("earnestness, zeal, seriousness, battle"), from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz, a derivative of Proto-Germanic *arniz, from Proto-Indo-European *er-.

The adjective is from Middle English eornest, from Old English eornoste, from the noun.

earnest (uncountable)

1. Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness.
   • 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.

   • a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC ↗:

     Take heed that this jest do not one day turn to earnest.

   • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene i]:

     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.

2. Seriousness; reality; actuality (as opposed to joking or pretence)

• French: sérieux, gravité
• German: Ernst, Ernsthaftigkeit
• Spanish: seriedad, gravedad

• German: Ernst, Ernsthaftigkeit
• Portuguese: seriedade
• Spanish: seriedad

earnest (earnests, present participle earnesting; simple past and past participle earnested)

1. (transitive) To be serious with; use in earnest.
   • 1602, Pastor Fido, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     Let's prove among ourselves our armes in jest, That when we come to earnest them with men, We may them better use.

earnest (comparative earnester, superlative earnestest)

1. (said of an action or an utterance) Serious, sincere, ingenuous.
2. (with a positive sense) Focused in the pursuit of an objective; honestly eager to obtain or do.

   earnest prayers

3. Intent; focused; showing a lot of concentration.

   earnest attention

4. (said of a person or a person's character) Possessing or characterised by seriousness.

   an earnest disposition

5. Strenuous; diligent.

   earnest efforts

6. Serious; weighty; of a serious, weighty, or important nature; important.

• French: ardent
• German: leidenschaftlich, sehnsüchtig
• Italian: voglioso, desideroso, fervente, zelante
• Portuguese: sério
• Russian: ре́вностный

• German: intensiv
• Italian: pressante
• Russian: уси́ленный
• Spanish: atento

• French: sérieux, grave
• German: ernst, ernsthaft, aufrichtig
• Italian: serio, grave
• Portuguese: sério, sincero
• Russian: серьёзный
• Spanish: serio

earnest (plural earnests)

1. A sum of money paid in advance as a deposit; hence, a pledge, a guarantee, an indication of something to come.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, 2 Corinthians 5:5 ↗:

     Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC ↗, pages 152–153 ↗:

     The vanity is at once encouraged and gratified; while the present small triumph is too readily taken as earnest for a greater one.

   • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 365:

     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.

• Italian: pegno
• Spanish: señal, arras

From earn + -est.

1. (archaic) second-person singular simple present indicative of earn

1. A male given name.