What does earnestness mean?
Word: Earnestness
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Earnestness means deep seriousness and sincerity about what you say or do.
Synonyms: seriousness, sincerity, eagerness, zeal
Antonyms: insincerity, flippancy
How do you spell earnestness?
Syllables: ear - nest - ness
Tricky part: It starts with ear, though the sound is closer to er, so students often write ernestness.
Watch out for: ernestness, earnesness, earnestnes
Memory tip: Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest puns on the name Ernest. The word you want keeps the ear; the name does not.
Earnestness in a sentence
Example 1: She spoke with such earnestness that the whole class believed her.
Example 2: The coach praised the juniors for the earnestness of their early-morning practice.
Example 3: There was an earnestness in his apology that made it hard to stay angry.
Fun Fact
Earnest money is a deposit a buyer pays to show that a deal is serious. That earnest is a different word, meaning a pledge, which came into English from French.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
earnesstness
a) e
b) s
c) t
d) n
Show answer
b) s. Earnest has a single s; the pair belongs only to the ness at the end.
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to earnestness as used in the sentence:
The young volunteer explained the tree-planting plan with great earnestness, and the elders agreed to help.
a) fervour
b) frivolity
c) gravity
d) intensity
Show answer
b) frivolity. Frivolity is a silly lack of seriousness, the reverse of earnestness; fervour, gravity and intensity all carry the same weight as the word.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. earnestness 2. thorougness 3. awarness 4. forgivness
a) deep seriousness and sincerity
b) great care in doing every part of a task
c) the act of pardoning someone for a wrong
d) knowledge that something exists or is happening
Show answer
a) deep seriousness and sincerity. Thoroughness needs an h after the g, forgiveness keeps the e of forgive and awareness the e of aware; earnestness has no slip.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which pupil is showing earnestness?
a) Tara, who rehearses her speech daily and asks for advice
b) Tara, who reads her speech once on the bus to school
c) Tara, who skips rehearsals but turns up on the day
d) Tara, who jokes through rehearsals and forgets her lines
Show answer
a) Tara, who rehearses her speech daily and asks for advice
2. When the monsoon 'began in earnest', the rain ____.
a) fell heavily and steadily
b) stopped almost at once
c) fell only lightly
d) came earlier than expected
Show answer
a) fell heavily and steadily
