What does the word earnest mean?

Usage examples for earnest

  1. Father Jervis had come to him as he had promised, for half an hour's good talk before lunch; and they had spent a very earnest thirty minutes together. – Dawn of All by Robert Hugh Benson
  2. What shall I read to- night- Earnest Maltravers? – The House of Toys by Henry Russell Miller
  3. The last words were said with such an accent of earnest determination, that Mr. Wharncliffe again had almost smiled at his scholar; but he did not. – Trading by Susan Warner
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