in earnest
Idioms-
With purposeful or sincere intent, as in We settled down to study in earnest . [c. a.d. 1000]
-
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.
The activists may argue that the post was not in earnest, and that no one involved ever seriously intended to bring pills into Texas.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
This week will see a wave of quarterly earnings reports as the season starts off in earnest with big Wall Street banks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Macro and geopolitical news are likely to sway financial markets until the next earnings season starts in earnest in mid-October.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
The arm-wrestling will kick off in earnest at a Brussels summit in October, with a likely second meeting in November, before a grand finale in December when leaders will look to seal the deal.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
When other nations failed to limit their own forces, Germany denounced the arms restrictions that had been imposed upon it and began to rearm in earnest.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
