earnestly
/ˈɝnɪstli/adverb
earnestly is spelled E-A-R-N-E-S-T-L-Y: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, earnestly means “In an earnest manner; being very sincere; putting forth genuine effort” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in earnestly?
| Letters | 9: E-A-R-N-E-S-T-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,063rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is earnestly?
Earnestly appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce earnestly?
- US /ˈɝnɪstli/
- UK /ˈɜːnɪstli/
Earnestly has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-earnestly.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of earnestly
- more earnestly comparative
- most earnestly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does earnestly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In an earnest manner; being very sincere; putting forth genuine effort.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Earnestly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in an earnest manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sérieusement |
| German | ernsthaft |
| Spanish | encarecidamente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does earnestly come from?
From Middle English ernestly, from Old English eornostlīċe (“earnestly, strictly”), equivalent to earnest + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).