earnestnessn.
/ˈəːnᵻs(t)nəs/, U.S. /ˈərnəs(t)nəs/ The state or quality of being earnest; (formerly also) †vehemence, great ardour or passion (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > willingness > [noun] > earnestness
knacking earnest1496
earnestness1532
earnesty1548
affectionatenessa1622
in-earnestness1879
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > melancholy > seriousness or solemnity > [noun]
earnestOE
sadnessc1350
serious1440
seriouste1440
demurity1483
seriosity?a1505
gravity1509
demureness?1518
seriousness1530
solemness1530
sobriety1548
staidness1561
graveness1577
gravidad1641
earnestness1670
substantialness1683
solemnity1712
smilelessness1844
unsmilingness1873
humourlessness1890
straightfacedness1982
1532 L. Cox Art or Crafte Rhetoryke sig. B.viii Cato was honored for his ernestnes and surete.
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. iv. xx. f. 162 They must watch with all care, earnestnesse, and diligence.
1603 J. Florio tr. M. de Montaigne Ess. ii. xi. 248 The earnestnes of showting, jubeling [printed jubeting] and hallowing.
1670 I. Walton Life R. Hooker 11 in Lives Never expressing an earnestness..but an humble Gravity sutable to the Aged.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 353 He spoke this with so much Warmth in his Temper, so much Earnestness and Motion of his Spirits.
1779 S. Johnson Let. 23 June (1992) III. 175 Keep your mind quiet, do not think with earnestness even of your health.
1833 C. Lamb Barrenness Imaginative Faculty in Last Ess. Elia 181 Sawing, every one with the might and earnestness of a Demiurgus.
1848 W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc Hist. Ten Years II. 581 The discussion began with warmth on one side, and grave earnestness on the other.
1849 F. W. Robertson Serm. (1866) 1st Ser. ii. 32 Earnestness; that is, sincerity of purpose.
1934 M. Callaghan Such is my Beloved v. 71 There was so much fervent earnestness in the way his hands were clasped.
1986 J. Coetzee Foe ii. 62 My earnestness has now won her over.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1532