serious

English

Etymology

From Middle English seryows, from Old French serieux, from Medieval Latin sēriōsus, an extension of Latin sērius (“grave, earnest, serious”), from Proto-Indo-European *swēr- (“heavy”). Cognate with German schwer (“heavy, difficult, severe”), Old English swǣr (“heavy, grave, grievous”). More at swear, sweer.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈsɪəriəs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəriəs

Adjective

serious (comparative more serious, superlative most serious)

1. 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.

2. Important; weighty; not trifling; leaving no room for play; needing great attention; critical.

   This is a serious problem. We'll need our best experts.

3. 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 Wikisaurus:serious

Antonyms

• (important, weighty): trifling, unimportant
• (intending what is said): jesting

Derived terms

• dead serious
• seriously
• seriousness
• serious-minded
• serious-mindedly
• serious-mindedness
• seriety

Translations

without humor or expression of happiness

Arabic: جدي (ar) (jíddiyy) Armenian: լուրջ (hy) (lurǰ) Belarusian: сур'ёзны (be) (sur’józny) Catalan: seriós (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 嚴肅 (cmn), 严肃 (cmn) (yánsù) Croatian: ȍzbīljan (hr), hládan (hr) Czech: vážný (cs) m. Dutch: serieus (nl), ernstig (nl) Esperanto: serioza (eo) Finnish: vakava, vakavamielinen, totinen French: sérieux (fr) m., sérieuse (fr) f. German: ernst (de)

Greek: σοβαρός (el) Italian: serio (it) Japanese: 真面目 (ja) (まじめ, majime), 真剣 (ja) (しんけん, shinken), 本気 (ja) (ほんき, honki) Latvian: nopietns Polish: poważny (pl) m. Portuguese: sério (pt) Romanian: serios (ro) Russian: серьёзный (ru) (ser’józnyj) Spanish: serio (es) Swedish: allvarsam (sv) Turkish: ciddi (tr) Ukrainian: серйозний (uk) (serjóznyj) Welsh: difrifol

important; weighty; not trifling; leaving no room for play

Arabic: جدي (ar) (jáddiy), جاد (ar) (jaadd) Armenian: լուրջ (hy) (lurǰ) Belarusian: сур'ёзны (be) (sur’józny) Catalan: seriós (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 認真 (cmn), 认真 (cmn) (rènzhēn), 嚴重 (cmn), 严重 (cmn) (yánzhòng), 沉重 (cmn) (chénzhòng) Croatian: ȍzbīljan (hr), vážan (hr), znȁčājan (hr) Czech: vážný (cs) Danish: alvorlig (da) Dutch: serieus (nl) Esperanto: serioza (eo), grava (eo) Finnish: vakava (fi) French: sérieux (fr) German: ernst (de), ernsthaft (de) Greek: σοβαρός (el)

Hungarian: komoly (hu), súlyos (hu) Italian: serio (it), grave (it) Japanese: 真面目 (ja) (まじめ, majime), 真剣 (ja) (しんけん, shinken) Korean: 심각한 (simgakhan) Latin: gravis (la), sevērus (la) Latvian: svarīgs Norwegian: alvorlig (no), seriøs (no) Polish: poważny (pl) m. Portuguese: sério (pt) Russian: серьёзный (ru) (ser’józnyj) Spanish: serio (es) Swedish: allvarlig (sv), seriös (sv) Turkish: ciddi (tr) Ukrainian: серйозний (uk) (serjóznyj) Welsh: difrifol

really intending what is said; being in earnest

Arabic: جدي (ar) (jáddiy), جاد (ar) (jaadd) Armenian: լուրջ (hy) (lurǰ) Belarusian: сур'ёзны (be) (sur’józny) Catalan: seriós (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 認真 (cmn), 认真 (cmn) (rènzhēn), 嚴重 (cmn), 严重 (cmn) (yánzhòng) Croatian: ȍzbīljan (hr) Czech: vážný (cs) Dutch: ernstig (nl), serieus (nl) Finnish: vakava (fi) French: sérieux (fr) German: ernsthaft (de)

Greek: σοβαρός (el) Hungarian: komoly (hu), súlyos (hu) Italian: serio (it) Japanese: 真面目 (ja) (まじめ, majime) Korean: 심각한 (simgakhan) Latvian: nopietns Portuguese: sério (pt) Russian: серьёзный (ru) (ser’józnyj) Spanish: serio (es) Swedish: seriös (sv) Ukrainian: серйозний (uk) (serjóznyj) Welsh: o ddifri'

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