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SINCERE
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I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Characterized by a firm and humorless belief in the validity of your opinions
Example:
a film with a solemn social message
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
serious (concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities)
Derivation:
sincerity (the trait of being serious)
sincerity (an earnest and sincere feeling)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Open and genuine; not deceitful
Example:
sincere friendship
Classified under:
Similar:
bona fide (undertaken in good faith)
cordial (sincerely or intensely felt)
dear; devout; earnest; heartfelt (sincerely earnest)
honest (without dissimulation; frank)
genuine; true; unfeigned (not pretended; sincerely felt or expressed)
heart-whole; whole-souled; wholehearted (with unconditional and enthusiastic devotion)
Also:
echt; genuine (not fake or counterfeit)
honest; honorable (not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent)
artless; ingenuous (characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious)
existent; real (being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory)
true (consistent with fact or reality; not false)
Attribute:
sincerity (the quality of being open and truthful; not deceitful or hypocritical)
Antonym:
insincere (lacking sincerity)
Derivation:
sincerity (the quality of being open and truthful; not deceitful or hypocritical)
Context examples:
This was my sincere endeavour in those many discourses I had with that monarch, although it unfortunately failed of success.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
That his repentance of misconduct, which thus brought its own punishment, was sincere, need not be doubted;—nor that he long thought of Colonel Brandon with envy, and of Marianne with regret.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
To this rule, Dr. Jekyll was no exception; and as he now sat on the opposite side of the fire—a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a stylish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness—you could see by his looks that he cherished for Mr. Utterson a sincere and warm affection.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
With solemn kindness Sir Thomas addressed her: told her his fears, inquired into her wishes, entreated her to be open and sincere, and assured her that every inconvenience should be braved, and the connexion entirely given up, if she felt herself unhappy in the prospect of it.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Anne's shudderings were to herself alone; but the Miss Musgroves could be as open as they were sincere, in their exclamations of pity and horror.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
In these last moments I feel the sincerest gratitude towards those who think of me with kindness.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
I am sincere with my soul at least, and that is what you are not.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
He had before believed her to return his affection with sincere, if not with equal regard.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Jo's only answer was to hold her mother close, and in the silence which followed the sincerest prayer she had ever prayed left her heart without words.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
All men of talent, whether they be men of feeling or not; whether they be zealots, or aspirants, or despots—provided only they be sincere—have their sublime moments, when they subdue and rule.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
