earnestly

[ ur-nist-lee ]

adverb

1. with deep and sincere feeling; seriously:

   After earnestly delivering a sermon on helping people in need, the pastor was gratified to see the record number of donations to the shelter.

Word History and Origins

Origin of earnestly¹

First recorded before 1000; earnest ¹( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Chairman Adam Cohn began attending hearings, sitting attentively in the gallery as attorney Louis “Skip” Miller assured the court the school earnestly wanted to reach a settlement.

From Los Angeles Times

People who know Burkett both inside and outside of the band believe the 2004 election was the first time he’d earnestly set out to do something and failed, and he took it extremely hard.

From Los Angeles Times

It's a skill he underplays, even when he earnestly lobs a corny dad joke at me — "You know what zero said to eight? Nice belt."

From Salon

“In a truly, earnestly positive way, finishing the movie did feel like there’s a reason why I signed up to do this — like there was an itch I needed to scratch,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times

“Yeah, I shed a tear,” he says — earnestly, I think.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• seriously
• sincerely
• soberly
• thoughtfully