Basic Details
Word: Earnest
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Very serious and sincere, showing that you really mean what you say or do.
Synonyms: sincere, serious, heartfelt, solemn
Antonyms: frivolous, insincere, half-hearted, flippant
Sounds like: Ernest (a man's name that sounds exactly the same)
How to Spell Earnest
Syllables: ear - nest
Tricky part: It begins with ear, like the part of your head, even though it sounds like ern. The second half is nest.
Watch out for: earnist, urnest, eurnest
Memory tip: Two small words hide inside: ear + nest. Picture a bird very seriously building a nest in your ear.
Idioms and Phrases
- in earnest: seriously and with real effort, or properly and fully Example: "Work on the new metro line started in earnest once the land was cleared."
Usage Examples
Example 1: Priya gave an earnest promise to practise every day.
Example 2: His earnest face showed that he meant every word.
Example 3: After an earnest discussion, the class agreed to plant trees.
Fun Fact
Oscar Wilde's comic play The Importance of Being Earnest, first staged in 1895, builds its title joke on the word earnest and the name Ernest, which sound the same.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word earnest as used in the sentence:
Rohan made an earnest effort to learn the tabla before the annual day.
a) determined
b) half-hearted
c) sincere
d) serious
Show answer
b) half-hearted. An earnest effort is full and serious; a half-hearted one is weak and lazy.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form the word that fits it:
The judge listened to the boy's ntaeser plea and gave him another chance.
a) nearest
b) eastern
c) earnest
d) earliest
Show answer
c) earnest. Nearest and eastern use the same seven letters, but a plea cannot be nearest or eastern; only an earnest, sincere plea makes sense.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
e_rn_st
a) i, e
b) a, i
c) e, i
d) a, e
Show answer
d) a, e. Earnest is ear + nest: the ear you hear with, then a bird's nest.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. An earnest student is one who is ____.
a) fond of silly jokes
b) serious and hard-working
c) always late for class
d) new to the school
Show answer
b) serious and hard-working
2. When the rain starts in earnest, it ____.
a) falls only at night
b) turns into hail
c) stops for good
d) begins to fall heavily
Show answer
d) begins to fall heavily
