in earnest

idiom

: 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.

: 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

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Engineers have already come out to the property to get the ball rolling on the project and the aim is for the planning phase to begin in earnest next month. —

Mike Dojc, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024 After playing some shows, in 2017, Allison signed with Fat Possum records and dropped out of school, to begin a recording career in earnest. —

Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2024 There are vulnerable people who engage with the messages in earnest. —

Longreads, 25 Oct. 2024 The latest quarter’s results kicked off in earnest on Friday following reports from BlackRock , JPMorgan and Wells Fargo . —

Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for in earnest