earnest
/ˈɜːnɪst/ adjectiveDefinition
› very serious and sincere: an earnest young man an earnest effort
in earnest › If something begins to happen in earnest, it really starts to happen in a serious way: The research will begin in earnest early next year.
be in earnest › to be very serious about something and mean what you are saying
earnestly adverb earnestness noun [U] (Definition of earnest adjective from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary
© Cambridge University Press)
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