earnest

n. 定金,诚挚,认真
a. 认真的,热心的,重要的

I'm sure he was earnest when he said he would come.

我相信他说他会来是认真的。

The current economic slump is an earnest of the major recession to come.

当前的经济滑坡预示着一次大的衰退即将来临。