different between thorough vs earnest
thorough
English
Alternative forms
- thoro (informal)
Etymology
From Middle English thoru?, þoru?, from Old English þuruh, a byform of Old English þurh, whence comes English through. The adjective derives from the preposition and adverb. The word developed a syllabic form in cases where the word was fully stressed: when it was used as an adverb, adjective, or noun, and less commonly when used as a preposition.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?????/, /??????/
- (General American) IPA(key): /????o?/, /????o?/
- (accents without the hurry–furry merger)
- (accents with the hurry–furry merger)
- Rhymes: -?r?
Adjective
thorough (comparative more thorough, superlative most thorough)
- Painstaking and careful not to miss or omit any detail.
- The Prime Minister announced a thorough investigation into the death of a father of two in police custody.
- He is the most thorough worker I have ever seen.
- The infested house needs a thorough cleansing before it will be inhabitable.
- Utter; complete; absolute.
- 1925-29, Mahadev Desai (translator), M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part I, chapter xviii[1]:
- I was elected to the Executive Committee of the Vegetarian Society, and made it a point to attend every one of its meetings, but I always felt tongue-tied. Dr. Oldfield once said to me, 'You talk to me quite all right, but why is it that you never open your lips at a committee meeting? You are a drone.' I appreciated the banter. The bees are ever busy, the drone is a thorough idler. And it was not a little curious that whilst others expressed their opinions at these meetings, I sat quite silent. Not that I never felt tempted to speak. But I was at a loss to know how to express myself. All the rest of the members appeared to me to be better informed than I. Then it often happened that just when I had mustered up courage to speak, a fresh subject would be started. This went on for a long time.
- 1925-29, Mahadev Desai (translator), M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part I, chapter xviii[1]:
Synonyms
- (detailed): comprehensive, rigorous, scrupulous; see also Thesaurus:meticulous or Thesaurus:comprehensive
- (utter; complete; absolute): downright, outright, unmitigated; see also Thesaurus:total
Derived terms
- thoroughbred
- thoroughgoing
- thoroughly
- thoroughness
Translations
Preposition
thorough
- (obsolete) Through. [9th-19th c.]
- 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, V. i. 109:
- You are contented to be led in triumph / Thorough the streets of Rome?
- 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, V. i. 109:
Noun
thorough (plural thoroughs)
- (Britain, dialect) A furrow between two ridges, to drain off the surface water.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)
thorough From the web:
- what thorough means
- what thoroughbred tracks are running today
- what thoroughness what realism
- what thoroughly modern millie about
- thorough job meaning
- thorough meaning in english
- thoroughfare meaning
- what thoroughbred mean
earnest
English
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /??n?st/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /???n?st/
- Homophone: Ernest
Etymology 1
From Middle English ernest, eornest, from Old English eornest, eornost, eornust (“earnestness, zeal, seriousness, battle”), from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz (“earnest, strength, solidity, struggle, fight”), a derivative of Proto-Germanic *arniz (“efficient, capable, diligent, sure”), from Proto-Indo-European *er- (“to cause to move, arouse, increase”). Cognate with West Frisian earnst (“earnest, seriousness”), Dutch ernst (“seriousness, gravity, earnest”), German Ernst (“seriousness, earnestness, zeal, vigour”), Icelandic ern (“brisk, vigorous”), Gothic ???????????????????????? (arniba, “secure, certain, sure”).
The adjective is from Middle English eornest, from Old English eornoste (“earnest, zealous, serious”), from the noun. Cognate with North Frisian ernste (“earnest”), Middle Low German ernest, ernst (“serious, earnest”), German ernst (“serious, earnest”).
Noun
earnest (uncountable)
- Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness.
- 1914, February 13, The Times, Obituary: Canon Augustus Jessopp
- He wrote well in a forcible, colloquial style, with the air of being tremendously in earnest, and full of knowledge which overflowed his pages, tricked out with somewhat boisterous illustrations.
- c. 1575-a 1586, Sir Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia
- Take heed that this jest do not one day turn to earnest.
- c. 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III: Act 5, Scene 1
- That high All-Seer which I dallied with
- Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head
- And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest.
- 1914, February 13, The Times, Obituary: Canon Augustus Jessopp
- Seriousness; reality; actuality (as opposed to joking or pretence)
Derived terms
- earnestful
- in earnest
Translations
Verb
earnest (third-person singular simple present earnests, present participle earnesting, simple past and past participle earnested)
- (transitive) To be serious with; use in earnest.
- 1602, Pastor Fido:
- Let's prove among ourselves our armes in jest, That when we come to earnest them with men, We may them better use.
- 1602, Pastor Fido:
Adjective
earnest (comparative earnester or more earnest, superlative earnestest or most earnest)
- (said of an action or an utterance) Serious or honest
- (with a positive sense) Focused in the pursuit of an objective; eager to obtain or do.
- Intent; focused; showing a lot of concentration.
- (said of a person or a person's character) Possessing or characterised by seriousness.
- Strenuous; diligent.
- Serious; weighty; of a serious, weighty, or important nature; important.
Derived terms
- earnestly
- earnestness
- in earnest
Translations
Etymology 2
Of uncertain origin; apparently related to erres. Compare also arles.
Noun
earnest (plural earnests)
- A sum of money paid in advance as a deposit; hence, a pledge, a guarantee, an indication of something to come.
- Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
- 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society 2010, p. 365:
- But if all this was viewed by Gladstone and the Cabinet as an earnest of St Petersburg's future good intentions in Central Asia, then disillusionment was soon to follow.
Translations
See also
- Earnest
- earnest money
Etymology 3
earn +? -est
Verb
earnest
- (archaic) second-person singular simple present form of earn
Anagrams
- Eastern, Saetern, Tareens, eastern, estrane, nearest, renates, sterane
earnest From the web:
- what earnest money
- what earnest means
- what earnest money means
- what earnest money deposit
- what earnestly means in the bible
- what's earnest in french
- what earnest in english
- what earnestness niv
you may also like
- thorough vs earnest
- pull vs spasm
- watching vs watchfulness
- bowl vs circus
- evanescent vs hasty
- amassing vs oblation
- worry vs disquietude
- family vs sort
- immoral vs prurient
- big vs round
- fray vs dispute
- beautiful vs winsome
- ample vs expansive
- jolt vs misfortune
- shack vs chalet
- roar vs roll
- errand vs exercise
- uncluttered vs immaculate
- hazy vs dismal
- aspect vs nature