earnestness
Americannoun
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seriousness and zeal in intention, purpose, or effort.
Socrates was a man of great moral earnestness, and exemplified in his own life some of the noblest virtues.
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depth and sincerity of feeling.
Speak with conviction and earnestness, and the people watching and listening will believe you.
Etymology
Origin of earnestness
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.
Heusinger’s James has a seductive earnestness that conceals some shocking character developments.
From Los Angeles Times
That’s not to say that the movie feels disingenuous; it’s brimming with earnestness, but fervor can be easily mistaken for fanfare.
From Salon
Yet, at the same time, Penn and Teller performed with earnestness and never judged their audiences.
From Los Angeles Times
I hear similarities in the guitar playing, though I think you balance earnestness with a knowing quality I don’t get from stomp-clap.
From Los Angeles Times
He characterized the backlash against his song as an aversion to earnestness, one that no doubt existed at the time his single was climbing the charts.
From Salon
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.
