Synonyms of earnestness

earnestness

noun

as in intentness

a mental state free of jesting or trifling

practiced the art of acting with great earnestness

Synonyms & Similar Words

• intentness
• earnest
• gravity
• seriousness
• solemnity
• decisiveness
• solemnness
• soberness
• attentiveness
• purposefulness
• graveness
• intensity
• staidness
• sobriety
• deliberation
• resoluteness
• serious-mindedness
• determination
• gravitas
• concentration
• humorlessness
• resolve
• immersion
• firmness
• absorption
• engrossment
• enthrallment

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• levity
• flippancy
• lightness
• frivolity
• lightheartedness
• facetiousness
• frivolousness
• play
• flightiness
• lightness
• superficiality
• shallowness
• unseriousness
• cheerfulness
• dilettantism
• mirth
• glee
• dalliance
• gaiety
• merriment
• high-spiritedness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of earnestness

And by this point, the cultural tide had also turned against his earnestness. — Tope Folarin, The Atlantic, 22 July 2026

That earnestness doesn’t quite vanish in Heartstopper Forever. — Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 18 July 2026

There was an earnestness to it that’s very rare in literary fiction. — Adam Messinger, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026

The Stranger Things star’s performance expertly balances cringeworthy earnestness with calculating sociopathy, making Kurt’s desperate quest for attention all the more believable. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 15 July 2026

The earnestness of this story just doesn’t work as well when everything is done in such blatantly artificial ways and for obvious pursuit of profit. — Gregory Nussen, Deadline, 8 July 2026

Despite the seriocomic set-up, as Vibeke gets more unstable, Mengel refuses to play her irrationality for laughs, instead taking the more difficult route of earnestness. — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 7 July 2026

As these events unfold, Early’s earnestness blurs comedy and drama, to surprisingly heartfelt effect. — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 20 June 2026

Western, for his part, had by this time recovered something of his usual bluster, and began again upon the subject of Blifil, commending his estate and his family with great earnestness, as though these considerations alone ought to have settled the matter long since. — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 2 June 2026