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Webster 1913 Edition


Earnestness

Ear′nest-ness

,
Noun.
The state or quality of being earnest; intentness; anxiety.
An honest
earnestness
in the young man’s manner.
W. Irving.

Webster 1828 Edition


Earnestness

EARNESTNESS

,
Noun.
ern'estness. Ardor or zeal in the pursuit of any thing; eagerness; animated desire; as, to seek or ask with earnestness; to engage in a work with earnestness.
1.
Anxious care; solicitude; intenseness of desire.
2.
Fixed desire or attention; seriousness; as,the charge was maintained with a show of gravity and earnestness.