earnest/ˋɝnIst; ˈɜːnəst or ˈɜːnIst/adj 1 very serious and sincere 非常认真的﹐真诚的: an earnest young man 一个诚恳认真的年轻人2 in earnest if something starts happening in earnest, it starts happening properly or seriously 真正地﹔认真地〔开始〕: On Monday your training begins in earnest ! 星期一你的训练就正式开始了!3 be in earnest to really mean what you are saying 是认真的﹐是郑重其事的 —earnestly adv