earnestly

adverb

ear·​nest·​ly ˈər-nəst-lē 

: in an earnest and serious manner : not lightly, casually, or flippantly

speaking earnestly

asking earnestly for forgiveness

providing the relief that they had earnestly hoped for

She spoke so earnestly, with such emotion in her voice, that Omakayas was always to remember that moment …

—Louise Erdrich

They sing contemporary R&B earnestly, like they borrowed it and want to return it in better condition than when they got it.

—Danyel Smith

Examples of earnestly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These are people who have lived in the United States, and who have been in the process of earnestly applying for legal status for years. —Karen Tumlin, Time, 6 May 2025

Some of them are earnestly engaged in helping parents navigate a bewildering time of life. —Hillary Kelly, The Atlantic, 5 May 2025

The parties are pretending to be earnestly negotiating the settlement of a federal lawsuit. —Tom Rogers, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Apr. 2025

The system continued, musing earnestly: Is this response born of love and wisdom, or is it born of compulsion? —D. Graham Burnett, New Yorker, 26 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above