EARNEST

Where it comes from

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 𐌰𐍂𐌽𐌹𐌱𐌰 (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”).

Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).

EARNEST in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 10 boards so far. 12 players have found it across Outlier's history.

It first turned up on Day 28, 17 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 91, 19 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 4 days.

First found by a player on Day 28, 17 June 2026.

Built from these letters

EARNEST starts with E and ends with T. Sorted, its letters read AEENRST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once.

Same letters, different word

3 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.

Words that start EARNES

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

Also seen on Day 28