"in earnest" what does it mean? She picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest. what does "in earnest"mean in this sentence? I have looked it up in the dictionary, it says "If you are in earnest, you are sincere in what you are doing and saying." But it doesn't make sense in the sentence. Does it have other usage or meaning? The context is a woman found a man near her when she was walking alone streets at night. Thank you for your answer.