as in earnestness
a mental state free of jesting or trifling
studied the dance steps with obvious intentness
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for intentness
Noun
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Taparjan’s voiceover fills the soundtrack with the same earnestness.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
20 Mar. 2026 -
The violent earnestness is like a speaker-phone therapy session on a crowded subway.—
Samuel Hyland,
Pitchfork,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
That is the highest-level designation for severe accidents, placing it alongside the fatal Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2003) shuttle disasters in terms of gravity.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
31 Mar. 2026
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The Moon is exceptionally large compared with Earth for a natural satellite, and at only 30 Earth-diameters away from the Earth, its gravity is significant enough to be the dominant factor in determining the oceanic tides that our planet experiences.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Despite the bitter path to this threshold—the debate started in earnest in 1915—almost no one cheered.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Mar. 2026
-
The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, started in earnest on March 10 with opening statements, and three other accusers are poised to testify, the New York Times reported.—
Victoria Bekiempis,
Vulture,
18 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
It's done with such seriousness and attention to detail you’d almost be convinced this moon mission succeeded 19 years before Apollo 11's monumental landing.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
30 Mar. 2026
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At her presser, the Sacramento Bee's Joe Davidson asked Staley about wearing Johnson's shirt and balancing fun with seriousness.—
Megan Armstrong,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Preventing the entry of the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Keeper of the Holy Land, moreover in a central solemnity for the faith such as Palm Sunday, constitutes an offense not only for believers, but for every community that recognizes religious freedom.—
Eric Mack,
FOXNews.com,
29 Mar. 2026
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Jacir’s film, which was short-listed (but not nominated) for the Oscar for Best International Feature, has no use for art-film solemnity.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, and the head of Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, have been models of clarity, calm, and decisiveness.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
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Beyond his onstage excellence, Grady runs our props department with remarkable effectiveness and decisiveness.—
Heide Janssen,
Oc Register,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Yet his playing had an otherworldly serenity that contrasted with Williams’s gentle purposefulness.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
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This month also reconnects you with a sense of purposefulness.—
Meghan Rose,
Glamour,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Life without that kind of attentiveness?—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
21 Feb. 2026
-
This conviction shaped his attentiveness to Jews facing state oppression.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
15 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Intentness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/intentness. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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