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

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪəɹi.əs/
• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪəɹi.əs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəɹiəs
• Homophone: Sirius

Adjective

serious (comparative more serious or seriouser, superlative most serious or seriousest)

1. Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition

   It was a surprise to see the captain, who had always seemed so serious, laugh so heartily.

   Synonyms: earnest, solemn

2. Important; weighty; not insignificant

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

3. Really intending what is said; in earnest; not jocular or deceiving

   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

• srs (abbreviation)
• dead serious
• seriously
• seriousness
• serious-minded
• serious-mindedly
• serious-mindedness

Translations

without humor or expression of happiness

• Arabic: جِدِّيّ (jiddiyy)
• Armenian: լուրջ (hy) (lurǰ)
• Azerbaijani: ciddi (az)
• Bashkir: етди (yetdi)
• Belarusian: сур'ё́зны (surʺjózny)
• Bulgarian: сериозен (bg) m (seriozen)
• Catalan: seriós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 嚴肅／严肃 (zh) (yánsù), 严肃 (zh) (yánsù)

• Czech: vážný (cs) m
• Dutch: serieus (nl), ernstig (nl)
• Esperanto: serioza
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: vakava (fi), vakavamielinen, totinen (fi)
• French: sérieux (fr) m, sérieuse (fr) f
• Galician: serio (gl) m
• Georgian: სერიოზული (seriozuli)
• German: ernst (de)
• Greek: σοβαρός (el) (sovarós)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: komoly (hu)
• 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)
• Latin: sērius
• Latvian: nopietns
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Norman: séthieux
• Polish: poważny (pl) m
• Portuguese: sério (pt)
• Romanian: serios (ro)
• Russian: серьёзный (ru) (serʹjóznyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: ȍzbīljan (sh), hládan (sh)
• Spanish: serio (es)
• Swedish: allvarsam (sv)
• Thai: เคร่งขรึม (th)
• Turkish: ciddi (tr)
• Ukrainian: серйо́зний (serjóznyj)
• Welsh: difrifol (cy)

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

• Arabic: جَدِّيّ (jaddiyy), جَادّ (jādd)
• Armenian: լուրջ (hy) (lurǰ)
• Bashkir: етди (yetdi)
• Belarusian: сур'ё́зны (surʺjózny)
• Bulgarian: важен (bg) m (važen), сериозен (bg) m (seriozen)
• Catalan: seriós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 認真／认真 (zh) (rènzhēn), 认真 (zh) (rènzhēn), 嚴重／严重 (zh) (yánzhòng), 严重 (zh) (yánzhòng), 沉重 (zh) (chénzhòng)

• Czech: vážný (cs)
• Danish: alvorlig (da)
• Dutch: serieus (nl)
• Esperanto: serioza, grava (eo)
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• 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)

• Hebrew: רציני (r'tsiní)
• Hungarian: komoly (hu), súlyos (hu), fontos (hu), jelentős (hu), nagy horderejű
• Icelandic: alvarlegur (is)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: serio (it), grave (it)
• Japanese: 真面目 (ja) (まじめ, majime), 真剣 (ja) (しんけん, shinken)
• Khmer: ដុនដាប (don daap)
• Korean: 심각한 (simgakhan)
• Latin: gravis (la), sevērus, sonticus
• Latvian: svarīgs
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Malay: serius
• Maori: taumaha, taimaha, tūpoupou (of illness)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norman: séthieux
• Norwegian: alvorlig (no), seriøs
• Novial:
• Polish: poważny (pl) m
• Portuguese: sério (pt)
• Russian: серьёзный (ru) (serʹjóznyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: ȍzbīljan (sh), vážan (sh), znȁčājan (sh)
• Spanish: serio (es)
• Swedish: allvarlig (sv), seriös (sv)
• Tagalog: malma
• Thai: จริงจัง (th) (jing-jang)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: ciddi (tr)
• Ukrainian: серйо́зний (serjóznyj)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: difrifol (cy)

really intending what is said; being in earnest

• Arabic: جَدِّيّ (jaddiyy), جَادّ (jādd)
• Armenian: լուրջ (hy) (lurǰ)
• Bashkir: етди (yetdi)
• Belarusian: сур'ё́зны (surʺjózny)
• Bulgarian: сериозен (bg) m (seriozen)
• Catalan: seriós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 認真／认真 (zh) (rènzhēn), 认真 (zh) (rènzhēn), 嚴重／严重 (zh) (yánzhòng), 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 (r'tsiní)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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)
• Latin: sērius
• Latvian: nopietns
• Norman: séthieux
• Portuguese: sério (pt)
• Russian: серьёзный (ru) (serʹjóznyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: ȍzbīljan (sh)
• Spanish: serio (es)
• Swedish: seriös (sv)
• Thai: จริงจัง (th) (jing-jang)
• Ukrainian: серйо́зний (serjóznyj)
• Welsh: o ddifri'

Further reading

• “serious”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “serious”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.