Earnest definition: sincere, serious, and meaning every word

Earnest definition and meaning, one sense at a time

To define earnest properly, separate four uses you will meet:

1. Adjective: sincere and serious. An earnest apology, an earnest student, an earnest attempt. The person truly means it.
2. In earnest (phrase): seriously, for real. "The rain began in earnest" means it started to pour properly. "Are you in earnest?" means "Are you serious?"
3. Noun: a pledge or token. Something given as a sign that more will follow, as in "an earnest of good faith". This is literary today.
4. Earnest money: a deposit. Money paid to show you are serious about buying, especially a house.

Earnest in example sentences

• The new trainee was earnest about learning every step of the process.
• After months of planning, work on the bridge began in earnest this spring.
• He spoke earnestly to the class about road safety after the accident near the gate.
• Her earnestness won over a sceptical panel of judges.
• We placed earnest money with the agent the day our offer was accepted.

Can earnest sound like criticism

Mostly earnest is praise for sincerity. But people sometimes use it with a slight smile, to suggest someone is too serious, lacking humour or a little naive. "An earnest young man lecturing everyone about recycling" can sound gently mocking. The opposite risk is sarcasm or facetious remarks, which say things you do not mean. Earnest people say exactly what they mean.

Earnest money in property deals

In buying a home, especially in the United States, earnest money is a deposit the buyer pays after an offer is accepted. It shows the seller that the buyer is serious, so the seller can take the home off the market. The money is usually held by a neutral party in escrow. If the sale closes, it normally goes toward the down payment or closing costs. If the buyer walks away without a reason allowed by the contract, the seller may be entitled to keep it. Contract terms, called contingencies, decide when it is refunded, for example after a failed inspection or if a mortgage is not approved.

Two different origins

The adjective goes back to Old English: eornoste meant zealous or serious, and the noun eornost meant seriousness or zeal. The adjective is recorded in Middle English from the early 1300s. The pledge noun is unrelated. It came from Old French erres and Latin arra, a deposit, a word probably of Semitic origin. Its Middle English form was ernes, and the final t, added in the 1400s, is not part of its real history; the spelling simply drifted toward the other earnest.

Earnest compared with close words

A person with conviction or integrity is often earnest, though not every earnest person is right. More character words are in people and feelings.