in earnest
idiom
1
: in an earnest or serious way
The search began in earnest when the police arrived.
After light showers during the day, it began to rain in earnest in the evening.
It's hard to tell if he's making this proposal in earnest.
2
: not fooling : serious and sincere
We thought he was joking at first, but then we realized that he was in earnest.
Examples of in earnest in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Before the war Tariq St. Patrick (Michael Rainey Jr.) started at the end of last season kicks off in earnest, Monet will have to make it out of the hospital.
—
Alamin Yohannes, EW.com, 17 May 2024
Advertisement After that, the work of building out the team will begin in earnest.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2024
The story of the gun used to kill French began in earnest in March 2021 at Deb’s, a small storefront off one of the main drags in Hammond, Indiana.
—Vernal Coleman, ProPublica, 14 May 2024
But before long, the crackdown on independent reporting began in earnest.
—Vivian Wang, New York Times, 13 May 2024
Before the contest began in earnest, the EBU, trying, and seemingly failing, to stick to its non-political principles, requested that the Israeli entry change the title and some lyrics of their song.
—Abid Rahman, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 May 2024
The Billie Eilish multi-media blitz in advance of the upcoming release of her third studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, will kick off in earnest on Friday (May 10) with the launch of Billie Eilish Radio on SiriusXM.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 8 May 2024
The concert, of course, took place just months after the pandemic began to lift in earnest and celebrated an album that was released in the summer of 2020 — a dance-party album when there were few parties and most dancing was done at home.
—Jem Aswad, Variety, 8 May 2024
Competition began in earnest Saturday morning in the gym Chair volleyball teams use regulation courts but with lower nets and a regulation beach ball instead of a traditional volleyball.
—Debra Utacia Krol, The Arizona Republic, 5 May 2024
Alamin Yohannes, EW.com, 17 May 2024
Advertisement After that, the work of building out the team will begin in earnest.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2024
The story of the gun used to kill French began in earnest in March 2021 at Deb’s, a small storefront off one of the main drags in Hammond, Indiana.
—Vernal Coleman, ProPublica, 14 May 2024
But before long, the crackdown on independent reporting began in earnest.
—Vivian Wang, New York Times, 13 May 2024
Before the contest began in earnest, the EBU, trying, and seemingly failing, to stick to its non-political principles, requested that the Israeli entry change the title and some lyrics of their song.
—Abid Rahman, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 May 2024
The Billie Eilish multi-media blitz in advance of the upcoming release of her third studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, will kick off in earnest on Friday (May 10) with the launch of Billie Eilish Radio on SiriusXM.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 8 May 2024
The concert, of course, took place just months after the pandemic began to lift in earnest and celebrated an album that was released in the summer of 2020 — a dance-party album when there were few parties and most dancing was done at home.
—Jem Aswad, Variety, 8 May 2024
Competition began in earnest Saturday morning in the gym Chair volleyball teams use regulation courts but with lower nets and a regulation beach ball instead of a traditional volleyball.
—Debra Utacia Krol, The Arizona Republic, 5 May 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'in earnest.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near in earnest
Cite this Entry
“In earnest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/in%20earnest. Accessed 23 May. 2024.
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