"earned applause" is a perfectly correct and usable term in written English.
You can use it to refer to praise or approval that someone receives as a result of an accomplishment. For example, "The students received earned applause for their hard work throughout the semester."
He returned to catch one punt and earned applause from Coach Jim Fassel.
Trump earned applause during a 15-minute speech at the ceremony hosted by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
(The company also included one woman, but although she earned applause, she wasn't central to the experience).
The England Under-21 international earned applause for that save but less than 60 seconds later he was caught out of position for the opener.
Joachim Gauck earned applause for his remarks, made in Berlin on Friday in a speech on Europe's future at a time of rising German scepticism towards Brussels.
Hughes continued this instructional theme right into the end of the lecture, when she read poems about poetry, including one by Billy Collins which earned applause.
The adult actors are young, too, but they have less sentimental ways of earning applause.
It has been earning applause equal to that given to the show's stars, Laura Benanti, Jane Krakowski, Zachary Levi, and Gavin Creel.
The first elections took place in 1946, and only after decades of struggle (and several coups d'état) did Turkey start earning applause for its democratic ways.
'Brave' speech earns applause within the game Greg Dyke's vision for the future of English football has been described as "brave" after his speech in London.
She was soon traveling through the United States on the comedy club circuit, earning applause with her quirky, naive stories that were punctuated with her loose-limbed gestures.
