Definition of In earnest

1. Adverb. In a serious manner. "A play dealing seriously with the question of divorce"

Exact synonyms: Earnestly, Seriously
Partainyms: Earnest, Serious

Definition of In earnest

1. Adjective. Sincere; determined; truthful. ¹

2. Adverb. Seriously; sincerely, in a significant manner; with considerable commitment, determination, or effect. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of In Earnest

in dentistry
in depth
in depth(p)
in dern
in detail
in dictione
in dies
in disagreement(p)
in dishabille
in dispute(p)
in disrepair(p)
in droves
in due course
in due season
in due time
in earnest (current term)
in earnest(p)
in effect
in effect(p)
in effigy
in esse
in essence
in everyone's thoughts
in evidence
in exchange
in existence
in extenso
in extremis
in face of
in fact

Literary usage of In earnest

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Law of Contracts by Samuel Williston, Clarence Martin Lewis (1920)
"Or give something in earnest to bind the contract." At the present day, earnest as distinguished from part payment is seldom or never given. ..."

2. A Dictionary of the English Language: In which the Words are Deduced from ...by Samuel Johnson by Samuel Johnson (1805)
"That high All-seer, which I dallied with, Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head, And giv'n in earnest, what I begg'd in jest. Nor can I think that God, ..."

3. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1868)
"... and the reader will be quite ready to make excuses for the readiness with which those who criticised it in earnest fell into the snare. ..."

4. Dictionary of National Biography by LESLIE. STEPHEN (1886)
"After remaining there for some months, seemingly awaiting the development of events in the south, he finally began a southward movement in earnest, ..."

5. Commentaries on the Laws of England: In Four Books by William Blackstone, William Draper Lewis (1902)
"(48) The statute of frauds distinguishes between giving a thing in " earnest," and giving it in part payment; the meaning of earnest being any money or ..."

6. The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I by Frederick Pollock, Frederic William Maitland (1899)
"In the Statute of Frauds,' something in earnest to bind the bargain ' and 'part payment' are distinguished indeed, but thrown into the same clause as if the ..."

7. Crabb's English Synonyms by George Crabb (1917)
"A person is said to be earnest, or in earnest; a person or thing is said to be serious: the former characterizes the temper of the mind, ..."

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