Definitions
not distracted by anything unrelated to the goal
Word origin
From Middle English ernest, eornest, from Old English eornest, eornost, eornust (“earnestness, zeal, seriousness, battle”), from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz (“earnest, strength, solidity, struggle, fight”), a derivative of Proto-Germanic *arniz (“efficient, capable, diligent, sure”), from Proto-Indo-European *er- (“to cause to move, arouse, increase”).
Used in a sentence
“Take heed that this jest do not one day turn to earnest.”
The New Arcadia“That high All-Seer which I dallied with / Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head / And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest.”
“Let's prove among ourselves our armes in jest, That when we come to earnest them with men, We may them better use.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer2 curated clues
01“Deeply sincere”7 letters
02“Serious and sincere”7 letters
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