Serious
Contents
English
Adjective
Serious (comparative more Serious, superlative most Serious)
- Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition; earnest; thoughtful; solemn.
- It was a surprise to see the captain, who had always seemed so serious, laugh so heartily.
- Important; weighty; not trifling; leaving no room for play; needing great attention; critical.
- This is a serious problem. We'll need our best experts.
- Really intending what is said; being in earnest; not jesting or deceiving; meaningful.
- After all these years, we're finally getting serious attention.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:serious
Antonyms
- (important, weighty): trifling, unimportant
- (intending what is said): jesting
Derived terms
Adverbs for Serious
gravely; critically; extremely; unquestionably; apparently; evidently; manifestly; curiously; secretly; palpably; ominously; portentously; mysteriously; admittedly; oddly; resolutely; decidedly; emphatically; grimly; severely.
Thesaurus
abandoned, acute, afire, alarming, ardent, arduous, austere, awe-inspiring, bad, bound, bound and determined, burning, businesslike, cogitative, cognitive, committed, comprehensive, concentrating, concentrative, conceptive, conceptual, conceptualized, consequential, considerable, contemplating, contemplative, critical, crucial, dangerous, dangersome, decided, decisive, decorous, dedicated, deep, definite, deliberating, deliberative, demure, determined, devoted, devout, difficult, dignified, dour, earnest, elevated, excogitating, exhaustive, explosive, faithful, fatal, fateful, fell, fervent, fervid, fiery, flaming, formal, formidable, fraught with danger, frowning, full, genuine, grand, grave, great, grievous, grim, grim-faced, grim-visaged, hearty, heated, heavy, honest, hot, hot-blooded, humorless, ideative, impassioned, important, imposing, in earnest, inspiring, intense, intent, intent on, introspective, irresistible, jeopardous, laborious, life-and-death, life-or-death, lofty, long-faced, loyal, main, majestic, major, maximum, meditating, meditative, menacing, mental, mighty, moderate, momentous, moving, museful, musing, nasty, no joke, no laughing matter, no-nonsense, noble, noetic, obstinate, on fire, operose, parlous, passionate, pensive, perfervid, periculous, perilous, persevering, persistent, plenary, poker-faced, pondering, portentous, powerful, precarious, prehensive, pressing, purposeful, red-hot, reflecting, reflective, relentless, resolute, resolved, ruminant, ruminating, ruminative, sedate, serious-minded, severe, significant, sincere, single-minded, sober, sober-minded, sobersided, solemn, somber, speculative, spirited, staid, stately, steady, stern, stone-faced, straight-faced, straightforward, strenuous, strong, sublime, temperate, tenacious, thinking, thought, thoughtful, threatening, total, tough, ugly, unamusing, unfunny, unsmiling, urgent, vehement, vital, warm, weighty, white-hot, wholehearted, wistful, zealous
Etymology
From Middle English seryows < Old French serieux < Medieval Latin sēriōsus, an extension of Latin sērius (“grave, earnest, serious”), perhaps for *sevrius and in effect another form of sevērus (“grave, serious, austere, severe”).
Pronunciation
Translations
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External links
- Serious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- Serious in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
Statistics
- Most common English words before 1923: access · ways · grave · #952: serious · possession · move · foreign
