| English Dictionary |
SERIOUS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does serious mean?
• SERIOUS (adjective)
The adjective SERIOUS has 6 senses:
1. concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities
2. of great consequence
3. causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm
4. appealing to the mind
5. completely lacking in playfulness
6. requiring effort or concentration; complex and not easy to answer or solve
Familiarity information: SERIOUS used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities
Context example:
Don't be so serious!
Similar:
earnest; sincere; solemn (characterized by a firm and humorless belief in the validity of your opinions)
grave; sedate; sober; solemn (dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises)
overserious (excessively serious)
real (not to be taken lightly)
serious-minded; thoughtful (acting with or showing thought and good sense)
sobering (tending to make sober or more serious)
solid (of a substantial character and not frivolous or superficial)
Attribute:
earnestness; serious-mindedness; seriousness; sincerity (the trait of being serious)
Antonym:
frivolous (not serious in content or attitude or behavior)
Derivation:
seriousness (the trait of being serious)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Of great consequence
Context example:
marriage is a serious matter
Similar:
important; of import (of great significance or value)
Derivation:
seriousness (the trait of being serious)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm
Synonyms:
dangerous; grave; grievous; life-threatening; serious; severe
Context example:
a life-threatening disease
Similar:
critical (being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency)
Derivation:
seriousness (the quality of arousing fear or distress)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Appealing to the mind
Synonyms:
good; serious
Context example:
a serious book
Similar:
intellectual (appealing to or using the intellect)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Completely lacking in playfulness
Synonyms:
Attribute:
fun; playfulness (a disposition to find (or make) causes for amusement)
Derivation:
seriousness (the trait of being serious)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Requiring effort or concentration; complex and not easy to answer or solve
Context example:
the plan has a serious flaw
Similar:
difficult; hard (not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure)
Context examples
It would have surprised Anne if Louisa could have readily answered such a speech: words of such interest, spoken with such serious warmth!
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
This agent is usually used in short-term treatment of serious infections due to susceptible strains of Gram-negative bacteria.
(Amikacin, NCI Thesaurus)
Miss Miller was now the only teacher in the room: a group of great girls standing about her spoke with serious and sullen gestures.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Children have smaller airways than adults, which makes asthma especially serious for them.
(Asthma in Children, NIH)
We shall get nothing more serious from him now, Miss Morland.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
When something goes wrong in this system, it can cause serious problems, including: • Blood pressure problems • Heart problems • Trouble with breathing and swallowing • Erectile dysfunction in men
(Autonomic Nervous System Disorders, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
This finding may be a sign of cancer or other serious condition, and more testing may be needed.
(AGC, NCI Dictionary)
See also serious adverse event, serious adverse experience.
(Adverse event, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)
Beth and Amy soon fell asleep in spite of the great trouble, but Meg lay awake, thinking the most serious thoughts she had ever known in her short life.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes liver inflammation and often leads to serious complications such as cirrhosis.
(Allergy drug inhibits hepatitis C, NIH)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Fun and pleasure are located below the navel; dispute and trouble are also located there." (Bhutanese proverb)
"Call someone your lord and he'll sell you in the slave market." (Arabic proverb)
"Where there is smoke, there is fire too." (Croatian proverb)