Standard Lemma guide

earnestness

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈɝnɪstnəs/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɜːnɪstnəs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: ER1 N AH0 S T N AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The quality of being earnest; sincerity; seriousness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • She spoke with great earnestness about the issue.
  • His youthful earnestness impressed the audience.
  • sincere earnestness
  • quiet earnestness
  • with complete earnestness

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the trait of being serious- Robert Rice

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a lack of solemnity is not necessarily a lack of seriousness

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: seriousness, serious-mindedness, sincerity

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: trait

Narrower terms: committedness, commitment, graveness, gravity, sobriety, soberness, somberness, sombreness, sedateness, staidness, solemnity, solemness

3

noun

Meaning 3

an earnest and sincere feeling

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: seriousness, sincerity

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: gravity, solemnity

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English earnest Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English earnestness From earnest + -ness.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Greek: φιλότιμο (filótimo) — quality of being earnest
  • Greek: ειλικρίνεια (eilikríneia) — quality of being earnest
  • Ancient Greek: σπουδαιότης (spoudaiótēs) — quality of being earnest