in earnest

idiom

1

: in an earnest or serious way

The search began in earnest when the police arrived.

After light showers during the day, it began to rain in earnest in the evening.

It's hard to tell if he's making this proposal in earnest.

2

: not fooling : serious and sincere

We thought he was joking at first, but then we realized that he was in earnest.

Examples of in earnest in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Then, travel demand snapped back faster than expected, climbing in earnest in 2022 and leaving airlines without experienced employees like customer service agents. —Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 6 Sep. 2024

Spice has become something of a cult among American foodies in a relatively short period of time, particularly as the hot sauce scene boomed in earnest in the 2000s. —Whizy Kim, Vox, 5 Sep. 2024

The negotiations — as mandated under the Inflation Reduction Act — began in earnest in January, when Medicare presented its opening prices to drugmakers. —Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, 15 Aug. 2024

Cornejo began to pursue his dream in earnest as a teen, building a sizable following on Instagram and TikTok with covers of Spanish-language lovelorn songs by artists like Eslabon Armado and Junior H, who signed record deals after being discovered on the Internet. —Fidel Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2024