| serious | (adj) concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities, Ant. frivolous, Example: a serious student of history; a serious attempt to learn to ski; gave me a serious look; a serious young man; are you serious or joking?; Don't be so serious! |
| serious | (adj) of great consequence, Example: marriage is a serious matter |
| serious | (adj) requiring effort or concentration; complex and not easy to answer or solve, Example: raised serious objections to the proposal; the plan has a serious flaw |
| seriously | (adv) in a serious manner, Syn. in earnest, earnestly, Example: talking earnestly with his son; she started studying snakes in earnest; a play dealing seriously with the question of divorce |
| seriousness | (n) the quality of arousing fear or distress, Syn. distressfulness, Example: he learned the seriousness of his illness |
| seriousness | (n) the trait of being serious; - Robert Rice, Syn. serious-mindedness, earnestness, sincerity, Ant. frivolity, Example: a lack of solemnity is not necessarily a lack of seriousness |
| Serious | a. [ L. serius: cf. F. sérieux, LL. seriosus. ] He is always serious, yet there is about his manner a graceful ease. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ] The holy Scriptures bring to our ears the most serious things in the world. Young. [ 1913 Webster ] -- |