as in intentness
a mental state free of jesting or trifling
practiced the art of acting with great earnestness
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of earnestness
Advertisement The Chair Company’s hero is the other side of that coin, a disempowered man whose earnestness brings him only embarrassment and whose attempts to find someone to blame for his misery only dig him deeper into it.
—
Judy Berman, Time, 9 Oct. 2025
The earnestness and sincerity that characterized so much music from the late ’90s were overtaken by the sneering rage of nu metal.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2025
When there is a buck to be made, a rapidly emerging necessity can be met with ardent earnestness.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
The earnestness with which chef-couple Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu approach their vision makes Sun Moon Studio feel like a collaborative culinary experiment, a team project you’ve been invited to join in on.
—The Bon Appétit Staff, Bon Appetit Magazine, 12 Sep. 2025
The conceit is inherently crowdpleasing — a man stumbling into strangers’ lives and finding unexpected connection — but Hikari steers it with earnestness, elevating it beyond sentimental comedy.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
His earnestness and enthusiasm were endearing.
—IEEE Spectrum, 1 Sep. 2025
The earnestness with which they are spoken is not redemptive.
—Hussein Agha, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
Judy Berman, Time, 9 Oct. 2025
The earnestness and sincerity that characterized so much music from the late ’90s were overtaken by the sneering rage of nu metal.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2025
When there is a buck to be made, a rapidly emerging necessity can be met with ardent earnestness.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
The earnestness with which chef-couple Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu approach their vision makes Sun Moon Studio feel like a collaborative culinary experiment, a team project you’ve been invited to join in on.
—The Bon Appétit Staff, Bon Appetit Magazine, 12 Sep. 2025
The conceit is inherently crowdpleasing — a man stumbling into strangers’ lives and finding unexpected connection — but Hikari steers it with earnestness, elevating it beyond sentimental comedy.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
His earnestness and enthusiasm were endearing.
—IEEE Spectrum, 1 Sep. 2025
The earnestness with which they are spoken is not redemptive.
—Hussein Agha, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for earnestness
Noun
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Glacier National Park, Montana Winter comes early to Glacier National Park, but the hardwoods that are peppered throughout the park’s evergreen forests put on one last show in September and October before the snow begins to fall in earnest.—
Graham Averill,
Outside,
26 Sep. 2025
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The crackdown may only be starting in earnest.—
Juanita Goebertus,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
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According to Bball-Index’s stat that measures gravity (how much attention a primary defender pays to his man while away from the ball), Hunter blew away his previous career high in 2024-25.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
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Almost all spacecraft sent to deep space — including the Voyager probes, Juno, Cassini-Huygens, and Galileo — must execute gravity assist maneuvers, slingshotting around planets to gain velocity for their vast treks.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
There’s no feigned seriousness, no proclamations of honesty.—
T. M. Brown,
New Yorker,
15 Oct. 2025
-
The system was elevated to ministerial status by Prime Minister Edi Rama to signal his seriousness in tackling corruption, and his commitment to institutionalizing advanced technologies.—
Tharin Pillay,
Time,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Earnestness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/earnestness. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
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