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 *swer- (“heavy”). Cognate with German schwer (“heavy, difficult, severe”), Old English swǣr (“heavy, grave, grievous”). More at swear, sweer.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪə̯.ɹi.əs/, /ˈsɪː.ɹi.əs/
- Audio (UK): (file)
(General American, Canada, mirror–nearer merger) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɹ.i.əs/
- Audio (US): (file)
(US, without the mirror–nearer merger) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɚ.i.əs/, /ˈsiɹ.i.əs/
(New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈsiə.ɹi.əs/
(Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ɹi.əs/
(East Anglia, cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛː.ɹi.əs/
Rhymes: -ɪəɹiəs
Homophones: cereous; Sirius (mirror–nearer merger)

Adjective

serious (comparative more serious, superlative most serious)

Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition
Synonyms: earnest, solemn

deadly serious

It was a surprise to see the captain, who had always seemed so serious, laugh so heartily.
Important; weighty; not insignificant
This is a serious problem. We'll need our best experts.
Really intending what is said (or planned, etc); in earnest; not jocular or deceiving
After all these years, we're finally getting serious attention.

He says he wants to buy the team, but is he serious?
(of a relationship) Committed.

Synonyms

See also Thesaurus:serious

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “important, weighty”): trifling, unimportant
(antonym(s) of “intending what is said”): jesting

Derived terms

Translations

without humor or expression of happiness

Afrikaans: ernstig (af)
Arabic: جِدِّيّ (jiddiyy)
Armenian: լուրջ (hy) (lurǰ)
Azerbaijani: ciddi (az)
Bashkir: етди (yetdi)
Belarusian: сур'ё́зны (surʺjózny)
Bulgarian: сериозен (bg) (seriozen)
Catalan: seriós (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 嚴肅 / 严肃 (zh) (yánsù)
Czech: vážný (cs)
Dutch: serieus (nl), ernstig (nl)
Esperanto: serioza
Estonian: tõsine
Finnish: vakava (fi), vakavamielinen, totinen (fi)
French: sérieux (fr)
Galician: serio (gl)
Georgian: სერიოზული (seriozuli)
German: ernst (de), seriös (de)
Greek: σοβαρός (el) (sovarós)
Hindi: गंभीर (hi) (gambhīr)
Hungarian: komoly (hu)
Indonesian: serius (id)
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)
Kazakh: байсалды (baisaldy), байыпты (baiypty)
Korean: 엄숙(嚴肅)하다 (ko) (eomsukhada), 진지(眞摯)하다 (ko) (jinjihada)
Ladino: seriozo m
Latin: sērius
Latvian: nopietns
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Louisiana Creole French: sériyé
Norman: séthieux
Occitan: seriós (oc)
Ottoman Turkish: دولك (dölek), آغر (ağır)
Persian: جدی (fa) (jeddi)
Plautdietsch: iernst, ieeboa
Polish: poważny (pl)
Portuguese: sério (pt)
Romanian: serios (ro)
Russian: серьёзный (ru) (serʹjóznyj)
Serbo-Croatian: ȍzbīljan (sh), hládan (sh)
Sicilian: seriu (scn), tristu
Spanish: serio (es)
Swedish: allvarsam (sv)
Thai: เคร่งขรึม (th)
Turkish: ciddi (tr), vezmin, salmaklı (tr)
Ukrainian: серйо́зний (serjóznyj)
Welsh: difrifol (cy)

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

Afrikaans: ernstig (af)
Arabic: جَدِّيّ (jaddiyy), جَادّ (jādd)
Armenian: լուրջ (hy) (lurǰ)
Bashkir: етди (yetdi)
Belarusian: сур'ё́зны (surʺjózny)
Bulgarian: важен (bg) (važen), сериозен (bg) (seriozen)
Catalan: seriós (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 認真 / 认真 (zh) (rènzhēn), 嚴重 / 严重 (zh) (yánzhòng), 沉重 (zh) (chénzhòng)
Czech: vážný (cs)
Danish: alvorlig (da)
Dutch: serieus (nl)
Esperanto: serioza, grava (eo)
Estonian: tõsine
Faroese: álvarsamur
Finnish: vakava (fi)
French: sérieux (fr)
Georgian: მნიშვნელოვანი (mnišvnelovani), საყურადღებო (saq̇uradɣebo), ღრმააზროვანი (ɣrmaazrovani), სერიოზული (seriozuli)
German: ernst (de), ernsthaft (de), schwerwiegend (de)
Alemannic German: èèrnscht
Greek: σοβαρός (el) (sovarós)
Ancient: σπουδαῖος (spoudaîos)
Guaraní: pohýi
Hebrew: רציני (he) (r'tsiní)
Hungarian: komoly (hu), súlyos (hu), fontos (hu), jelentős (hu), nagy horderejű
Icelandic: alvarlegur (is)
Italian: serio (it), grave (it), critico (it)
Japanese: 真面目 (ja) (まじめ, majime), 真剣 (ja) (しんけん, shinken), 深刻 (ja) (しんこく, shinkoku)
Khmer: ដុនដាប (don daap)
Korean: 심각한 (simgakhan)
Ladino: seriozo m
Latin: gravis (la), sevērus, sonticus
Latvian: svarīgs
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Louisiana Creole French: sériyé
Malay: serius (ms)
Maori: taumaha, taimaha, tūpoupou (of illness), motuhēhē
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Norman: séthieux
Norwegian: alvorlig (no), seriøs
Occitan: seriós (oc) m
Persian: جدی (fa) (jeddi)
Plautdietsch: schlemm, iernst
Polish: poważny (pl)
Portuguese: sério (pt)
Russian: серьёзный (ru) (serʹjóznyj)
Samoan: faigatā
Sanskrit: गुरु (sa) (guru)
Serbo-Croatian: ȍzbīljan (sh), vážan (sh), znȁčājan (sh)
Sicilian: mpurtanti, mprisiusu, seriu (scn)
Spanish: serio (es)
Swedish: allvarlig (sv), seriös (sv)
Tagalog: malma
Tetum: seriu
Thai: จริงจัง (th) (jing-jang)
Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
Tongan: mahuʻinga
Turkish: ciddi (tr), salmaklı (tr)
Ukrainian: серйо́зний (serjóznyj)
Vietnamese: nghiêm trọng (vi)
Welsh: difrifol (cy)

really intending what is said; being in earnest

Afrikaans: ernstig (af)
Arabic: جَدِّيّ (jaddiyy), جَادّ (jādd)
Armenian: լուրջ (hy) (lurǰ)
Bashkir: етди (yetdi)
Belarusian: сур'ё́зны (surʺjózny)
Bulgarian: сериозен (bg) (seriozen)
Catalan: seriós (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 認真 / 认真 (zh) (rènzhēn), 嚴重 / 严重 (zh) (yánzhòng)
Czech: vážný (cs)
Dutch: ernstig (nl), serieus (nl)
Finnish: vakava (fi)
French: sérieux (fr)
German: ernsthaft (de)
Greek: σοβαρός (el) (sovarós)
Ancient: σπουδαῖος (spoudaîos)
Hebrew: רציני (he) (r'tsiní)
Hungarian: komoly (hu), valós (hu), valódi (hu), őszinte (hu)
Irish: dáiríre
Italian: serio (it)
Japanese: 真面目 (ja) (まじめ, majime)
Korean: 심각한 (simgakhan)
Ladino: seriozo m
Latin: sērius
Latvian: nopietns
Louisiana Creole French: sériyé
Norman: séthieux
Occitan: seriós (oc) m
Portuguese: sério (pt)
Russian: серьёзный (ru) (serʹjóznyj)
Serbo-Croatian: ȍzbīljan (sh)
Sicilian: anestu, cuscinziusu, judizziusu, seriu (scn), sinceru
Spanish: serio (es)
Swedish: seriös (sv)
Thai: จริงจัง (th) (jing-jang)
Ukrainian: серйо́зний (serjóznyj)
Welsh: o ddifri'

Adverb

serious (not comparable)

(colloquial or dialect) seriously, in a serious manner (most often heard in take or mean serious)
- 1957, Ray Lawler, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Sydney: Fontana Books, published 1974, page 68:
  The only time I walk out on singin' is when there's muckin' about and youse don't take it serious.