Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Serious

Definition: Serious

Serious

Adjective

1. Concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities; "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!".

2. Of great consequence; "marriage is a serious matter".

3. Causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm; "a dangerous operation"; "a grave situation"; "a grave illness"; "grievous bodily harm"; "a serious wound"; "a serious turn of events"; "a severe case of pneumonia".

4. Appealing to the mind; "good music"; "a serious book".

5. Completely lacking in playfulness.

6. Requiring effort or concentration; complex and not easy to answer or solve; "raised serious objections to the proposal"; "the plan has a serious flaw".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "serious" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1350. (references)

 

Synonyms: Serious

Synonyms: dangerous (adj), good (adj), grave (adj), grievous (adj), severe (adj), sober (adj), unplayful (adj). (additional references)
Antonyms: frivolous (adj), playful (adj). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Serious

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Dejection

Serious, sedate, staid, stayed; grave as a judge, grave as an undertaker, grave as a mustard pot; sober, sober as a judge, solemn, demure; grim; grim-faced, grim-visaged; rueful, wan, long-faced.

Dullness

No joke, serious matter (importance).

Greatness

Goodly, noble, precious, mighty; sad, grave, heavy, serious; far gone, arrant, downright; utter, uttermost; crass, gross, arch, profound, intense, consummate; rank, uninitiated, red-hot, desperate; glaring, flagrant, stark staring; thorough-paced, thoroughgoing; roaring, thumping; extraordinary.; important; unsurpassed; (supreme); complete. august, grand, dignified, sublime, majestic; (repute).

Importance

Grave, serious, earnest, noble, grand, solemn, impressive, commanding, imposing.

Resolution

Earnest, serious; set upon, bent upon, intent upon.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Serious

Specialty definitions using "serious": serious assault, serious crime. (references)
Etymologies containing "serious": Jocoserious. (references)

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Modern Usage: Serious

DomainUsage

Screenplays

Leo Solomon has serious concerns about my exploring a social, you know, scenario, with the President of the United States (The American President; writing credit: Aaron Sorkin.)

I'm totally and completely serious. (Say Anything; writing credit: Cameron Crowe.)

You were serious about dat (My Cousin Vinny; writing credit: Dale Launer.)

There's serious metal fatigue in all the load-bearing members, the wiring is substandard, it's completely inadequate for our power needs, and the neighborhood is like a demilitarized zone (Ghostbusters; writing credit: Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis.)

Yeah, it was like a serious cackling (The Blair Witch Project; writing credit: Daniel Myrick; Eduardo Sánchez)

Lyrics

But it doesn't mean that I'm serious (Oops!... I Did It Again; performing artist: Britney Spears)

And I'm serious, never been more baby (Come On Over (All I Want Is You) (Radio Edit); performing artist: Christina Aguilera)

I’m serious when I tell you, love (Choose; performing artist: Color Me Badd)

Me and Kelly got some serious business (Jumpin', Jumpin' (So So Def Remix); performing artist: Destiny's Child)

Serious because we can't concentrate and get this right (Give It Up, Turn It Loose; performing artist: En Vogue)

Clever

I'm serious. It was a joke. (references; author: unknown)

You can go anywhere you want if you look serious and carry a clipboard. (references; author: unknown)

Movie/TV Titles

Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious (1965)

Serious Charge (1959)

Bobby Bumps' World Serious (1917)

Serious Sixteen (1910)

You Cannot Be Serious (1999)

Song Titles

Let's Get Serious (performing artist: Jermaine Jackson)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Serious

DomainTitle

Books

  • Oil Painting for the Serious Beginner: Basic Lessons in Becoming a Good Painter (reference)

  • You Cannot Be Serious (reference)

  • Colored Pencil for the Serious Beginner (reference)

  • The pipe; a serious yet diverting treatise on the history of the pipe and all its appurtenances, as well as a factual withal philosophical discussion of the pleasurable art of selecting pipes, smoking, and caring for them (reference)

  • Rod MacHado's Instrument Pilot's Survival Manual: Serious Book Written in a Fun Refreshing Style (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Theater & Movies

  

Music

  

High Tech

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Serious

Photos:
Serious

More pictures...

Illustrations:
Serious

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Serious

More pictures...

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Photo Album: Serious

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

Workers are shown wearing protective clothing to clean up chemical wastes abandoned in dumps. This is a serious environmental problem. Credit: Linda Bartlett (photographer).

A pregnant woman with syphilis can pass T. pallidum to her unborn child, who may be born with serious mental and physical problems as a result of this infection. When a newborn is affected it is known as “Congenital Syphilis”. Credit: CDC.

This is a photomicrograph of Clostridium botulinum stained with Gentian violet. The bacterium C. botulinum produces a nerve toxin, which causes the rare, but serious paralytic illness Botulism. Credit: CDC.

Horned pondweed - Zannichellia palustrus - growth usually peaks in June and begins covering the beaches. Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) provides food and habitat for a wide variety of biota, but has been in serious decline for the last several decades. Credit: America's Coastlines.

More serious reading at the main library. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth.

Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve. Sapelo Lighthouse, constructed in 1820, suffered serious damage during a hurricane in 1898. It was restored in 1998 to its present condition. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR).

In HYDROLAB's twenty years, no serious hyperbaric accidents occurred. Credit: National Undersea Research Program (NURP).

These bendway weirs installed along the Spoon River in Peoria County, Illinois, help to slow down the fast-moving waters that can cause serious streambank erosion damage. Credit: Bob Nichols.

NRCS utilized gabion structures to prevent serious erosion in an urban area of Virginia. Credit: Jeff Vanuga.

Tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris, is a serious pest of alfalfa being grown for seed. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Scott Bauer..

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Digital Photo Gallery: Serious
 

"A Serious Soldier" by Sheila Broumley
Commentary: "A very serious-looking toy soldier on white background."
"Cloud 2" by Marcus Friesl
Commentary: "Another image in a serious taken while photographing the sun."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

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Familiar Quotations: Serious

AuthorQuotation

Eric Hoffer

A nation declines when its people become too serious to set their hearts on toys.

Henrik Ibsen

Really to sin you have to be serious about it.

Horace

Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment.

Iris Murdoch

Human affairs are not serious, but they have to be taken seriously.

Joseph Addison

We are growing serious, and let me tell you, that's the next step to being dull.

Leigh Hunt

The person who can be only serious or only cheerful, is but half a man.

Peter Ustinov

Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.

Samuel Butler

The one serious conviction that a man should have is that nothing is to be taken too seriously.

William Congreve

I find we are growing serious, and then we are in great danger of being dull.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Historic Usage: Serious

AuthorDateQuotation

Communist Manifesto

1848

Thenceforth, a serious political contest was altogether out of the question. (reference)

Winston S. Churchill

1946

When American military men approach some serious situation they are wont to write at the head of their directive the words "over-all strategic concept." There is wisdom in this, as it leads to clarity of thought. ("Iron Curtain" Speech)

John F. Kennedy

1961

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms--and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations. (reference)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Use in Literature: Serious

TitleAuthorQuote

Emma

Austen, Jane

He thanked her with all his heart, and continued some time to speak with serious feeling of his gratitude and happiness

Sylvie and Bruno Concluded

Carroll, Lewis

I have reserved, for the last, one or two rather more serious topics

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Douglas Adams

But popular? Only in the sense that a serious accident on the motorway might be popular -- everyone slows down to have a good look, but no one will get too close to the flames

Scarlet Letter

Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Or I might readily have found a more serious task

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

Never had the two ideas that governed the unfortunate man whose sufferings we are relating, engaged in so serious a struggle

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Joyce, James

He saw her serious alluring eyes watching him from among the audience and their image at once swept away his scruples, leaving his will compact

Grapes of Wrath

Steinbeck, John

And his face was serious and responsible

Walden

Thoreau, Henry David

It is only the serious eye peering from and the sincere life passed within it which restrain laughter and consecrate the costume of any people

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Serious

SubjectTopicQuote

Health

NIHL is serious. (references)

Dysphagia can be serious. (references)

This is a serious condition. (references)

Business

The abduction of women is a serious problem. (references)

AIDS is considered the most serious worldwide health problem. (references)

Mobile phone handset smuggling has become a serious problem in China. (references)

Children

Philippines

Nevertheless, children faced serious problems. (references)

Malawi

Infant mortality is high, and child malnutrition is a serious problem. (references)

Malawi

Child prostitution occurs, but it is not considered a serious problem. (references)

Civil Liberties

Russia

Kidnapings and assaults remained serious threats. (references)

Mexico

The numerous attacks on journalists constituted the most serious problem for press freedom. (references)

Syria

Sulayman suffered a serious head wound that led to his hospitalization, although he subsequently recovered. (references)

Discrimination

Somalia

The Transitional Charter, adopted in 2000 but not implemented by year's end, contains provisions that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex and national origin; however, societal discrimination and violence against women and widespread abuse of children continued to be serious problems. (references)

Economic History

Ecuador

However, serious economic problems remain. (references)

Burma

Drug use and HIV/AIDS are serious problems. (references)

Human Rights

Equatorial Guinea

The level of these abuses is serious. (references)

Malaysia

Prison overcrowding is a serious problem. (references)

Yugoslavia

He suffered a concussion and other serious injuries. (references)

Indigenous People

Brazil

Illegal mining, logging, and ranching are serious problems on indigenous land. (references)

Guatemala

Indigenous people were the most common victims of extrajudicial killings and other serious human rights abuses during the internal conflict. (references)

Minorities

Slovak Republic

Two of the Roma were hospitalized with serious injuries. (references)

Political Economy

Angola

Impunity was a serious problem. (references)

Armenia

Emigration remained a serious problem. (references)

Syria

Their members commit serious human rights abuses. (references)

Political Rights

Malaysia

Legislation proposed by the opposition never is given serious consideration. (references)

Kyrgyz Republic

Both parliamentary and presidential elections held in 2000 were marred by serious irregularities. (references)

Armenia

Serious breaches of the election law resulted in a lack of public confidence in the integrity of the overall election process. (references)

Trade

Switzerland

Several cantonal banks experienced serious problems during the mid 1990's as a result of sharp declines in the real estate market. (references)

Armenia

Newly emerging private companies, with a few exceptions, are too weak to provide serious financing for long term projects of their own. (references)

Mexico

Over the past 6 years the number of trade disruptions over standard matters has gradually decreased; however, some serious disruptions still occur. (references)

Travel

Lithuania

Food contamination is not a serious problem. (references)

Pakistan

The Islamabad/Rawalpindi area also experiences serious water shortages during summer months. (references)

Turkey

If discovered, individuals could be arrested for aiding and abetting the PKK-a serious charge. (references)

Women

Korea

Rape remained a serious problem. (references)

India

Dowry disputes also are a serious problem. (references)

China

A high female suicide rate is a serious problem. (references)

Worker Rights

Russia

Other more serious cases remain unresolved. (references)

China

Occupational health and safety remain serious problems. (references)

Zimbabwe

The strike caused serious disruption to the milling industry. (references)

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

ZANY, n. A popular character in old Italian plays, who imitated with ludicrous incompetence the buffone, or clown, and was therefore the ape of an ape; for the clown himself imitated the serious characters of the play. The zany was progenitor to the specialist in humor, as we to-day have the unhappiness to know him. In the zany we see an example of creation; in the humorist, of transmission. Another excellent specimen of the modern zany is the curate, who apes the rector, who apes the bishop, who apes the archbishop, who apes the devil.

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Spoken Usage: Serious

SpeakerPhrase(s)

Chuck Hagel

Well, that point has been made a couple of times. I think there should be some perspective brought to anything as serious as committing young men and women to war, because people lose their lives and then there are consequences to that.

Dennis Miller

I can certainly appreciate the fact that commercial airlines in this country were put in serious financial trouble by the terrorist attacks, but using that tragedy as a cudgel to pound billions of dollars out of the federal government was wrong.

Jesse Ventura

That was not very serious at all. I'm just going after George in the same manner I felt he went after me, and, you know, if he can dish it out I hope he can take it.

John Warner

While the Senate rafters are not ringing with rhetoric and debate, but the serious discussions in all the committee rooms.

Lisa French

We would consider it. I don't feel that my husband and I are capable of giving them the kind of help that they need at this point in their life. They need some serious help and they need to be put in a place where they can get that help.

Rush Limbaugh

The government isn't serious about stopping smoking.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Speeches: Serious

SpeakerTermPhrase(s)

George Washington

1789-1797The consequences of a defective provision are of serious import to the Government.

Thomas Jefferson

1801-1809To our former grounds of complaint has been added a very serious one, as you will see by the decree a copy of which is now communicated.

Harry S. Truman

1945-1953There are also serious gaps in our statistical information.

John F. Kennedy

1961-1963On the contrary the Soviets are rapidly continuing their construction of missile support and launch facilities, and serious attempts are under way to camouflage their efforts.

Gerald Ford

1974-1977But crime, and the fear of crime, remains one of the most serious problems facing our citizens.

Jimmy Carter

1977-1981But, our Nation has serious problems.

Ronald Reagan

1981-1989Waste and fraud are serious problems.

George Bush

1989-1993Since we really mean it, and since we're serious about being ready to meet our challenge, we're getting our own house in order.

Bill Clinton

1993-2001Serious crime has dropped five years in a row.

George W. Bush

2001-2005America will not accept a serious and mounting threat to our country, and our friends and our allies.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Usage Frequency: Serious

"Serious" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 98.59% of the time. "Serious" is used about 12,394 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)98.59%12,219754
Noun (proper)1.37%17023,898
Noun (plural)0.02%2245,945
Noun (common)0.02%2245,945
                    Total100.00%12,394N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Expressions: Serious

Expressions using "serious": become more serious become serious dead serious get serious ha ha only serious make serious not serious nothing serious so far on serious reflection serious assault serious crime serious disturbance serious fault serious illness serious incident serious injury serious matter importance serious minded serious music serious transmissible disease serious trouble serious warning very serious. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "serious": serious-art, serious-faced, serious-looking, serious-minded, serious-mindedness, serious-money, serious-sounding.

Ending with "serious": half-serious, mock-serious, non-serious, over-serious, semi-serious.

Containing "serious": pretend-nothing-serious-has-happened.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Serious

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

serious sam

605

demo sam serious

20

serious skin care

252

im serious t.i

19

serious

150

map sam serious

17

cheat sam serious

120

cd no sam serious

16

serious about softball

104

quote serious

16

serious mistress

67

patch sam serious

16

serious skin care product

66

serious sam gold

15

serious sam 2

56

exploration serious

15

yahoo serious

50

serious skin

14

sam serious through walk

47

serious personal injury

13

i m serious t.i

36

download sam serious

13

serious sam second encounter

34

im serious

13

2 cheat sam serious

28

3 sam serious

13

serious clothing

27

revenge serious

12

serious magic

27

cheat pc sam serious

12

cheat encounter sam second serious

26

code sam serious

11

mods sam serious

26

pimp serious

11

cheat code sam serious

24

serious softball.com

11

box cheat sam serious x

22

serious poem

11

i m serious

21

encounter sam second serious through walk

11

serious seed

21

x box serious sam

11
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Serious

Language Translations for "serious"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Afrikaans

  

ernstig (important), erg (important), belangrik (important), benouend (airless, alarming, burdensome, grave, onerous, oppressive, stiffling, sultry). (various references)

   

Albanian

  

serioz (bad, crying, deep, demure, dress, earnest, grave, heavy, nasty, reliable, solemn, weighty), i rëndësishëm (capital, consequential, earnest, epoch making, eventful, front page, grave, important, imported, impressive, inflated, jack in office, mattery, mouth-filling, notable, noteworthy, responsible, sidy, significant, substantial, tidy), i rëndë (arduous, artless, awkward, bad, bulky, burdensome, cubbish, cumbersome, cumbrous, dead, difficile, elephantine, grave, grievous, grinding, hard, heavy, hefty, incondite, knock about, leaden, lumping, massive, oafish, onerous, peremptory, plodding, ponderous, portly, set up, severe, solemn, stertorous, stodgy, tricky, unwieldy, wakeless, weighty). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏فظ (abrupt, blunt, boor, boorish, brusque, brutish, burly, chuffy, churlish, clownish, coarse, country, crude, crusty, curt, discourteous, earthy, grievous, gross, gruff, hairy, harsh, hoarse, ill mannered, impolite, indelicate, low, mannerless, obdurate, off hand, plug ugly, precipitous, rough, rough and ready, rude, ruffianly, rugged, rustic, savage, scathe, shaggy, short, sour, surly, uncivil, uncouth, unkind, unmannerly, unprintable), ‏مهم (important, in the first flight, leading, main, paramount, remarkable, signify, sizable, substantial), ‏وقور (lordly, magisterial, proper, sedate, sober, solemn, staid, thoughtful), ‏ذو بال (important), ‏خطير (acute, critical, dangerous, eventful, grave, grievous, hazardous, heavy, important, irresistible, momentous, redoubtable, risky, risque, severe, significant, ticklish, unsafe, weighty), ‏جدي (businesslike, earnest, kid), ‏رزين (calm, demure, grave, level, level headed, matronly, portentous, sedate, sober, sober minded, staid, stoical), ‏رصين (calm, equable, equal, sedate, sober, sober minded, solemn, solid, staid, steady, thoughtful). (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

сериозен (earnest, grave, heavy, intent, prayerful, sad, sage, sedate, sober, solemn, somber, sombre, staid, steady, straight), важен (consequential, dignified, fatal, grave, importable, important, magisterial, major, material, mighty, necessitous, newsy, pompous, pontifical, portentous, prominent, sage, significant, solemn, sounding, staple, substantial, top-line, weighty), значителен (appreciable, considerable, goodly, handsome, important, major, marked, monumental, respectable, round, sensible, significant, smart, symbolic, symbolical, tidy). (various references)

   

Catalan

  

greu. (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

認真 (earnest, take seriously, take to heart), (a layer, again, heavy, iteration, repetition, to double, to repeat), 鄭重 , (sincere, true), 嚴重 (critical, grave, severe), (severe, stern, strict, tight), 沉重 (critical, hard, heavy), 正經 (according to standards, decent; proper), 岸然 (solemn), 严肃 (Austere, Austereness, Austerities, Austerity, severity, sombre). (various references)

   

Czech

  

seriózní (dependable, earnest, reliable, reputable, respectable), vážný (austere, dangerous, earnest, good, grave, major, mellow, pensive, portly, solemn, solid, stern, straight, strong, wistful), opravdový (authentic, earnest, genuine, real, sincere, undisguised, veritable), nároèný (arduous, challenging, demanding, discerning, discriminating, exacting, hard, severe, sophisticated, stiff). (various references)

   

Danish

  

vigtig (important), alvorlig (cheerful, earnest, gay, merry, staid). (various references)

   

Dutch

  

voornaam (aristocratic, Christian name, first name, important), ernstig (earnest, important, staid), erg (important, quite, very, very much). (various references)

   

Esperanto

  

serioza (earnest, staid), maltrankviliga (anxious, grave), grava (important). (various references)

   

Faeroese

  

týdningarmikil (important), álvarsamur (earnest, important, staid). (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

مهم (Chief, Considerable, Earthshaking, Epochal, Grand, Grave, Great, Head, Important, Main, Material, Momentous, Principal, Significant, Smacker, Substantial), وخیم (Critical, Crucial, Dire, Fatal, Tense), سخت (Adjacent, Chronic, Crusty, Demanding, Difficult, Dogged, Dour, Eburnated, Exquisite, Grave, Grim, Rigid, Rigorous, Rocky, Rugged, Severe, Sore, Steely, Stratify, Stringent, Strong, Troublesome), خطیر (Momentous), خطرناک (Calamitous, Disastrous, Dngerous, Grave, Herculean, Ill, Jeopardous, Malignant, Perilous, Venturesome), جدی (Bonafide, Demure, Drastic, Earnest, Energetic, Grand, Rigid, Sedate, Solemn, Stickler, Uncanny). (various references)

   

Finnish

  

vakava (earnest, firm, grave, stable, staid, steady). (various references)

   

French

  

grave (severe), sérieux (seriousness), important. (various references)

   

French Canadian

  

grave. (various references)

   

Frisian

  

earnstich (earnest, staid), danich (considerable, important, sizable), aardich (attractive, charming, important, lovely). (various references)

   

German

  

ernst (astringent, austere, earnest, earnestly, earnestness, firmly, grave, gravelly, gravely, gravity, heaviness, heavy, important, pensive, seriously, seriousness, severe, severeness, severity, sincere, sober, solemn, solemnity, solemnly, staid, stern, sternly, sternness, unsmiling), ernsthaft (considered, earnest, earnestly, genuine, grave, in earnest, seriously, sincere, sincerely, staid, wholehearted), seriös (quality, reliable, reputable, respectable, staid), erheblich (considerable, important, material, pertinent, relevant, severe, substantially, vastly). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

σπουδαίοσ (frabjous, grand, great, important, momentous, of note, significant), σοβαρόσ (burning, demure, earnest, grave, important, matronal, matronly, saturnine, sedate, sober, solemn, staid), σοβαρός (grievous, serious about, severe, solemn), αισθητόσ (observable, perceivable, perceptible, sensate, sensible, tangible). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

חמור (ass, austere, burro, critical, donkey, drastic, grave, jackass, moke, severe, stern, strict, stringent), רציני (deep, demure, earnest, grave, important, severe). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

fontos (capital, important, main, major, memorabilia, memorable, momentous, of some account, ponderous, significant, stressful, substantial). (various references)

   

Icelandic

  

alvarlegur (earnest, staid). (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

serius, keberatsebelahan (hard, strong, weight), gawat (critical, dangerous, grave). (various references)

   

Italian

  

serio (earnest, grave, seriously, staid, steady, wholehearted), grave (bad, deep, earnest, grave, grievous, harsh, heavy, important, severe, solemn, unsmiling, weighty), importante (big, esentially, essential, grand, great, important, importent, key, momentous, notable, prominent, significant, signifying, vital, weighty). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

重い (heavy, important, massive, severe), 甚大 (enormous, very great), 甚だしい (excessive, extreme, heavy damage, intense, severe, terrible, tremendous). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

せつじつ (acute, compelling, earnest, pressing, severe, urgent), はなはだしい (excessive, extreme, heavy, intense, severe, terrible, tremendous), じんだい (age of the gods, ancient time, enormous, very great), じゅうだい (grave, important, successive generations, teenage, the teens, the tenth generation, weighty), じゅうとく, けんあく (dangerous, gloomy, perilous, stormy, threatening), げん (bow string, chord, fundamental, handle, not to be touched, original, primary, primitive, raw, remark, statement, string, word), シリアス , とんだ (absolutely not, awful, preposterous, terrible), あつい (cordial, deep, faithful, hot, kind, thick, warm), ただならぬ (alarming, incomparable, unusual), まじめ (diligent, honest), ひどい (awful, cruel, heavy, severe, terrible, very bad, violent), しんみり (heart-to-heart, sad, solemn), しんこく (China under the Manchus, filing a return, formal complaint made by a victim, Japan, land of the gods, new grain, notification, report, statement), マジ , おもい (affection, desire, emotion, expectation, experience, feelings, heart, heavy, hope, imagination, important, love, massive, mind, oppressed, sentiment, severe, thought, wish), おもおもしい (dignified, exceedingly, frequently, grave, sincerely), おもたい (heavy, important, massive, oppressed, severe), ゆゆしい (alarming, grave). (various references)

   

Korean 

  

심각한. (various references)

   

Malay

  

penting (important). (various references)

   

Manx

  

trome-chooishagh (grave, important), smooinaghtagh (imaginable, notional, pensive, thinking, thoughtful). (various references)

   

Norwegian

  

alvorlig (earnest, grave, grievous, staid). (various references)

   

Papiamen

  

serio (earnest, staid), importante (important), grave (important). (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

erioussay.(various references)

   

Polish

  

poważny (earnest, important, staid). (various references)

   

Portuguese

  

sério (abstemious, austere, convinced, demure, earnest, fair, important, respectable, sedate, severe, single-eyed, single-minded, sober, solemn, staid, stern, straight, straightaway, straightforward, temperate, thoughtful), sisudo (earnest, staid, stern, unsmiling), importante (big, capital, distinguish, golden, grand, grave, great, high, important, keynote, leading, momentous, necessary, ponderous, purposeful, relevant, significant, solemn, substantial, weighty), grave (earnest, engrave, grave, grievous, important, momentous, ponderous, portentous, severe, solemn, staid), categorizado (important). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

serios (appreciable, demure, earnest, earnestly, genuine, grave, gravely, grievously, important, in earnest, in good earnest, intimate, matronal, minded, reliable, sad, sedate, serious minded, seriously, seriousness, severe, sober, solemn, solid, staid, steady, stern, valid, weighty, well-conducted). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

серьезный (deep, earnest, grave, heavy, no-nonsense, severe), важный (consequential, donnish, earnest, first rate, grave, humungous, important, momentous, of consequence, of great moment, of importance, of significance, portentous, prancing, significant, substantial, weighty). (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

svečan (declamatory, dressy, festal, festive, formal, gala, grave, solemn, state, stately), važan (consequential, imperative, important, material, momentous, pertinent, weighty), ozbiljan (earnest, earnestly, grave, major, momentous, severe, staid, stern). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

serio (businesslike, demure, dependable, earnest, heavy, meaningful, responsible, serious minded, severe, sober, sober minded, staid, thinking, thoughtful, unsmiling), importante (big, consequential, considerable, deferent, essential, great, important, important thing, large, leading, respectable, significant, sizable, sizeable, top, valuable, weighty), grave (acute, alarming, bad, court, courtyard, deep, demure, desperate, difficult, dignified, grave, grievous, grim, gross, heavy, important, low, lower, nasty, severe, weighty, yard), crítico (alarming, censor, censorious, critic, critical, grave, knocker, reviewer, vital). (various references)

   

Swahili

  

-kubwa (big, great, important, large), kubwa (big, great, important, large). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

allvarlig (austere, earnest, grave, major, severe, staid, weighty), seriös, rejäl (glorious, good, honest, sure). (various references)

   

Tagalog

  

mahalagá (important). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

ciddi (austere, businesslike, capital, critical, demure, devout, earnest, eventful, forbidding, grave, gut, important, momentous, mortally, sedate, sober, sober minded, solemn, staid, starched, unsmiling), şakaya gelmeyen, ağirbaxli (earnest, important, staid), ağir (abusive, important, insulting, light, nasty, offensive, slow), ağırbaşlı (austere, calm, demure, dignified, earnest, graceful, grand, imperturbable, matronly, only, sage, sedate, sober, sober minded, solemn, staid), ağır (arduous, back breaking, badly, bovine, burdensome, contemptuous, cumbersome, cumbrous, deep, deliberate, dignified, drudging, dull, fabian, foul, grave, grievous, hard, harsh, heavily, heavy, hefty, indigestible, languid, lazy, lumbering, massive, measured, muzzy, not fast, onerous, oppressive, plodding, ponderous, repressive, rich, scorching, scornful, serious minded, seriously, severe, severely, sharp, slack, slashing, slow, slow moving, slowly, sluggish, smashing, stodgy, strenuous, strong, swingeing, toilful, toilsome, unwholesome, unwieldy, weighty), önemli (big, big time, capital, consequential, considerable, emphatic, emphatical, eventful, fateful, grand, grave, great, gut, healthy, heavy, high, historic, historical, important, leading, major, momentous, noteworthy, of importance, of note, of weight, prominent, respectable, significant, smart, solemn, star, substantial, top-line, urgent, weighty, worthy). (various references)

   

Turkmen 

  

salyhatly, ymykly (definitive), goяazy. (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

серйозний (deep, demure, earnest, serious minded, solemn), важливий (big, consequential, considerable, earnest, grand, grave, important, influential, interesting, momentous, newsworthy, purposeful, weighty), небезпечний (adventurous, awkward, breakneck, chanceful, climacteric, critical, dangerous, harmful, hazardous, insecure, nasty, parlous, perilous, redoubtable, redoubted, thorny, uncanny, unsafe, virulent, wicked). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

trầm trọng (gravely, seriously), thật sự (actual, effective, regular, strict), quan trọng (important, leading), nghiêm trang (demure, matronal, matronlike, matronly), nghiêm nghị hệ trọng, nặng đáng sợ, không thể coi thường được; nghiêm trọng, đứng đắn (decently, earnest, seriously), đáng gờm thành thật. (various references)

   

Welsh

  

sobr (abstemious, abstinent, sober), prysur (busy, diligent, hasty), prudd (grave, sad, wise), o ddifrif, difrifol (earnest, grave, solemn). (various references)

   

Yucatec

  

k'ana'an (important, necessary). (various references)

   

Zulu

  

-phakeme (correct, important, right). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Serious

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Latin500 BCE-Modern