be in earnest
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Those imams who still counsel against jihadist terrorism, says Kepel, may be in earnest.
From Time Magazine Archive
In Washington, Reagan Administration officials stressed that the Soviet leader's reform efforts seem to be in earnest, and avoided dashing hopes for better U.S.-Soviet ties.
From Time Magazine Archive
Good!" exclaimed the drost: "there is, then, some meaning in it, and I now begin to be in earnest; for, hitherto, the whole affair has appeared to me somewhat like a joke.
From The Childhood of King Erik Menved An Historical Romance by Ingemann, Bernhard Severin
"Well, I know you are not given to joking, and this would certainly be an inconceivably bad joke; but it is almost more inconceivable that you should be in earnest."
From That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 3 by Trollope, Frances Eleanor
Everybody whom I shall have must be in earnest.
From The Adventures of a Widow A Novel by Fawcett, Edgar
