earnestadjective
uk/ˈɜː.nɪst/us/ˈɝː.nɪst/serious and determined, especially too serious and unable to find your own actions funny:
He was a very earnest young man.
in deadly earnest
completely serious:
These fanatics are in deadly earnest when they say they want to destroy all forms of government.
in earnest
When something begins in earnest, it has already started but is now being done in a serious and complete way:
The election campaign has begun in earnest.
be in earnest
to be speaking honestly:
I thought he was joking - I didn't realize he was in earnest.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Lacking humour
- be no laughing matter idiom
- beyond
- beyond a joke idiom
- humourless
- laugh
- lightly
- mirthless
- po-faced
- poker-faced
- rofl
- serious
- seriously
- sober
- solemnity
- sombre
- starchily
- starchy
- take a joke idiom
- turgid
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Strong-willed
Honesty, openness & sincerity
earnestly
adverb uk/ˈɜː.nɪst.li/us/ˈɝː.nɪst.li/
earnestness
noun [ U ] uk/ˈɜː.nɪst.nəs/us/ˈɝː.nɪst.nəs/