serious

English Online Dictionary. What means serious‎? What does serious mean?

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/
• (General American, Canada, mirror–nearer merger) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɹ.i.əs/
• (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)

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

   Synonyms: earnest, solemn

   deadly serious

2. Important; weighty; not insignificant

3. Really intending what is said (or planned, etc); in earnest; not jocular or deceiving

4. (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

• srs (abbreviation)
• dead serious
• ha ha only serious
• joco-serious
• non-serious
• self-serious
• seriously
• seriousness
• serious-minded
• serious-mindedly
• serious-mindedness
• take serious

Translations

Adverb

serious (not comparable)

1. (colloquial or dialect) seriously, in a serious manner (most often heard in take or mean serious)

Further reading

• “serious”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “serious”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.