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): /ˈsɪə.ɹɪ.əs/, /ˈsɪː.ɹɪ.əs/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɚ.i.əs/, /ˈsɪɹ.i.əs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəɹiəs
• Homophones: cereous, Sirius (one pronunciation)

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

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

2. Important; weighty; not insignificant

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

3. 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?

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

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)
• 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)

1. (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.

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.