in earnest
Idioms-
With purposeful or sincere intent, as in We settled down to study in earnest . [c. a.d. 1000]
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Also, in dead earnest . Serious, determined, as in We thought he was joking, but he was in earnest , or I'm in dead earnest about selling the business . In the variant, from the late 1800s, dead means “completely” or “thoroughly” and is used purely for emphasis. [c. a.d. 1000]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It’s been in my mind since last year, and at the beginning of this year, I started — in earnest — putting something together,” Milgrom says.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
The show opened with a recap of that song - before the competition started in earnest with Denmark's Søren Torpegaard Lund.
From BBC • May 17, 2026
Gomez said the administration’s attacks on the network began in earnest with a defamation lawsuit against the network and “Good Morning America” anchor George Stephanopoulos that ABC settled for $16 million, including legal fees.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026
Janice Charette said she doesn’t expect an agreement among the parties before July 1, when a formal U.S.-led review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade treaty, or USMCA, is set to begin in earnest.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
“The idea of being afraid of you! Well, you see we used to play Pilgrim’s Progress, and we have been going on with it in earnest, all winter and summer.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
