ernst
German, adjective
ernst is spelled E-R-N-S-T (5 letters) and appears 162 times per million words in written German, the 537th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ernst is a German adjective meaning “serious, severe, grave” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Ernst is a different word: “earnestness, seriousness”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “ohne Spaß, ohne Scherz, ohne Humor, ohne Ironie”.
What does ernst mean in English?
adjective
- 1
serious, severe, grave
noun
- 1
masculineearnestness, seriousness
- 2
masculinea serious statement, a seriously meant action
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. scherzlose, überlegte und entschiedene Gesinnung; sachlich, aufrichtige Haltung 2. Gewichtigkeit bis hin zur Bedrohlichkeit
adjective: 1. ohne Spaß, ohne Scherz, ohne Humor, ohne Ironie 2. über einen Zustand, der schlimme Konsequenzen haben kann; bedrohlich
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of ernst
- ernster masculine nominative singular
- am ernstesten superlative
- ernste feminine nominative singular
- ernstes neuter nominative singular
- ernsten genitive masculine singular
- ernstem dative masculine singular
- der ernste definite includes-article masculine
- die ernste definite feminine includes-article
- das ernste definite includes-article neuter
- die ernsten definite includes-article nominative
- des ernsten definite genitive includes-article
- der ernsten definite feminine genitive
- dem ernsten dative definite includes-article
- Ernsts genitive singular
- Ernstes genitive singular
- Ernste dative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to ernst
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is ernst in German?
ernst appears 162 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).