ernsthaft
German, adjective/ˈɛʁnsthaft/
ernsthaft is spelled E-R-N-S-T-H-A-F-T (9 letters) and appears 32 times per million words in written German, the 2,594th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ernsthaft is a German adjective meaning “serious (important, weighty)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “nicht heiter”.
What does ernsthaft mean in English?
adjective
- 1
serious (important, weighty)
ernsthafte Zweifel
- 2
serious (earnest, genuine)
ernsthafte Anstrengung
adverb
- 1
seriously
ernsthaft krank
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. nicht heiter 2. eindringlich, gewichtig 3. aufrichtig, tatsächlich 4. gefährlich, schlimm
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 ernsthaft
- ernsthafter masculine nominative singular
- am ernsthaftesten superlative
- ernsthafte feminine nominative singular
- ernsthaftes neuter nominative singular
- ernsthaften genitive masculine singular
- ernsthaftem dative masculine singular
- der ernsthafte definite includes-article masculine
- die ernsthafte definite feminine includes-article
- das ernsthafte definite includes-article neuter
- die ernsthaften definite includes-article nominative
- des ernsthaften definite genitive includes-article
- der ernsthaften definite feminine genitive
- dem ernsthaften dative definite includes-article
- ernsthaftig variant
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce ernsthaft?
- /ˈɛʁnsthaft/
- [ˈɛʁnsthaft]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to ernsthaft
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is ernsthaft in German?
ernsthaft appears 32 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).