Ernest
name, noun
name, noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Obsolete form of earnest. alt-of, obsolete
Proper Noun
- 1 A male given name from the Germanic languages; popular in the 19th century.
"GWENDOLEN. […] and my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence."
- 2 A surname.
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Bruno is frank and earnest with women. In Fresno, he's Frank and in Chicago, he's Ernest."
Etymology
Borrowed in the 18th century from Ernst, a medieval royal name in Germany, from Old High German ernust (“vigor, strife”), only remotely related to modern German ernst or English earnest.