earnest — OET

earnest

adjective

1 he had a reputation for being dreadfully earnest:

serious, serious-minded, solemn, grave, sober, humourless, staid, steady, intense;

committed, dedicated, assiduous, keen, diligent, zealous, industrious, hard-working;

studious, thoughtful, cerebral, deep, profound, bookish, donnish.

▷antonyms frivolous; apathetic.

2 they were engaged in earnest prayer:

devout, heartfelt, wholehearted, sincere, impassioned, deeply felt, from the heart, full-hearted, fervent, fervid, ardent, passionate, intense, burning, urgent;

literary passional, perfervid.

▷antonyms half-hearted.

noun

□ in earnest

1 we are in earnest about stopping burglaries:

serious, not joking, sincere, wholehearted, genuine;

committed, firm, resolute, resolved, determined, insistent.

▷antonyms joking.

2 he started writing in earnest after the war:

zealously, purposefully, determinedly, resolutely, with enthusiasm, with dedication, with commitment;

ardently, fervently, fervidly, passionately, wholeheartedly.

▷antonyms half-heartedly.

earnest (1) Oxford Dictionary of English