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Definitions: Seriousness |
SeriousnessNoun1. An earnest and sincere feeling. 2. The quality of arousing fear or distress; "he learned the seriousness of his illness". 3. The trait of being serious; "a lack of solemnity is not necessarily a lack of seriousness"- Robert Rice. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "seriousness" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1380. (references) |
Synonyms: SeriousnessSynonyms: distressfulness (n), earnestness (n), serious-mindedness (n), sincerity (n). (additional references) |
| Antonym: frivolity (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Importance | Gravity, seriousness, solemnity; no joke, no laughing matter; pressure, urgency, stress; matter of life and death. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Seriousness |
| English words defined with "seriousness": airheaded ♦ degree, distressfulness, dizzy ♦ empty-headed, extenuate ♦ featherbrained ♦ giddy ♦ Jocoserious ♦ levity, light-headed ♦ major, minor, mitigate ♦ palliate ♦ sedateness, Serio-comical, silly, solemness, solemnity, staidness ♦ To trifle with, trivialise, trivialize. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Horace | A jest often decides matters of importance more effectual and happily than seriousness. |
Oscar Wilde | Dullness is the coming of age of seriousness. |
| Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow. | |
Soren Kierkegaard | Repetition is the reality and the seriousness of life. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | This sudden seriousness, sometimes strangely marked, resembled the disdain of a goddess. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Treatment for ulcerative colitis depends on the seriousness of the disease. (references) | |
Pulmonary hypertension contributes to the seriousness of the baby's condition. (references) | ||
CHD is treated in a number of ways, depending on the seriousness of the disease. (references) | ||
Business | In view of the seriousness of hepatitis B virus infection in Taiwan, hepatitis B vaccine has been in great demand. (references) | |
Particular attention will be focused on those firms that register the most significant injuries in terms of number and seriousness. (references) | ||
Trials may last a substantial period of time, depending on the seriousness of the charges, number of witnesses, and availability of judges. (references) | ||
Economic History | Finland | Corruption in Finland is covered by the Criminal Code (R1 101/19.12.89) and provides for sanctions ranging from fines to imprisonment for up to four years, depending on the seriousness of the crime. (references) |
Croatia | Recognizing the seriousness of the problem, the Racan government cooperates effectively within the Stability Pact's Anti-Corruption Initiative (SPAI) and receives technical assistance from USAID and other donors. (references) | |
Turkey | The construction industry is hopeful that the Turkish economy will rebound in the second half of 2001. The pace of political and economic reform and the seriousness of the GOT to tackle economic problems will determine how rapidly Turkey will pull out from its current financial crisis. (references) | |
Human Rights | Poland | The seriousness of the offense determines which is the court of first instance. (references) |
Iceland | Depending on the seriousness of the case, a Supreme Court panel can include from three to seven judges. (references) | |
Azerbaijan | The Supreme Court also may act as the court of first instance, depending on the nature and seriousness of the crime. (references) | |
Trade | Mexico | For any sizeable transaction or relationship, exporters should demand financial statements just as they might in the U.S., and they should visit the customer's facility and meet with the major officers to assess their capacity and seriousness. (references) |
Women | Saint Lucia | There is increased awareness of the seriousness of violence against women. (references) |
Kenya | Traditional culture permits a man to discipline his wife by physical means and is ambivalent about the seriousness of spousal rape. (references) | |
Worker Rights | China | The high rate and seriousness of coal mining accidents has highlighted serious enforcement problems in that sector. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | I hope those debates will be marked by new proposals and by a seriousness that matches the gravity of the questions themselves. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Seriousness" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Seriousness" is used about 578 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 Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 578 | 10,939 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "seriousness": non-seriousness. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "seriousness"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | seriozitet (demureness, gravity, reliability, sobriety, solemnity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | خطورة (acuteness, gravity, riskiness, severity), جدية, جد (ancestor, earnest, forbear, forefather, granddad, grandfather, grandpa, grandpapa, grandparent, happen, hard work, industry, predecessor), الجد. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | сериозност (demureness, gravity, solemnity), важност (account, concern, concernment, gravity, import, importance, interest, magnitude, materiality, moment, pith, pomposity, self-importance, significance, solemnity, stress, value, weight). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 郑重. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | vážnost (estimation, gravity, reverence, severity, solemnity, sternness), opravdovost (earnest, sincerity), nároènost (ambitiousness, severity, sophistication). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | vakavuus (earnestness, firmness, stability, steadiness), totisuus (earnestness), arveluttavuus (gravity, hazard, precariousness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | sincérité, sérieux (serious), gravité (severity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Ernsthaftigkeit (earnestness, graveness, gravity, sincerity, sobriety, solemnity, wholeheartedness), Ernst (astringent, austere, earnest, earnestly, earnestness, firmly, grave, gravelly, gravely, gravity, heaviness, heavy, important, pensive, serious, seriously, severe, severeness, severity, sincere, sober, solemn, solemnity, solemnly, staid, stern, sternly, sternness, unsmiling). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | σοβαρότησ (graveness, gravity, momentousness, saturnineness, saturninity, sedateness, soberness, solemnity, staidness), σοβαρότητα (graveness, momentousness, notability, saturnineness, saturninity, sedateness, soberness, solemity, solemnity, staidness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | כובד ראש (gravity, solemnity), הרצנה (gravity), רצינות (earnestness, gravity, severity, solemnity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | súlyosság (gravity, massiveness, ponderosity, severity), komolyság (earnestness, gravity, severity, solemnity, staidness, sternness, thoughtfulness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | keseriusan. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | serietà (earnestness, reliability), gravità (g, graveness, gravity, momentousness, severity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 厳粛 (austerity, dignity, gravity, rigor, severity, solemnity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | しんめんぼく (true character), しんめんもく (earnestness, one's true character, oneself, true character), しんけん (divine right, divine sword, earnestness, parental authority), ほんごし (earnestness, strenuous effort), ほんき (sanctity, truth), げんしゅく (austerity, dignity, gravity, rigor, severity, solemnity), じゅうだいせい (importance). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 심각. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | trome-chooishaght (graveness, serious-minded), trimmid (bounteousness, burdensomeness, charge, density, density of fog, emphasis, graveness, gravity, hardness, hardness of work, harshness, harshness of punishment, heaviness, highness, importance, intenseness, pressure, severity, soundness, stress, weight, weightiness), smooinaghtaght (thoughtfulness), fudys, fastid (closeness, modesty, pensiveness, reserve, taciturnity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | eriousnesssay seriedade (dignity, earnest, gravity, severity), importância (account, amount, archness, at the moment, bigness, caliber, calibre, concernment, consideration, gravy, import, importance, magnitude, materiality, matter, ponderosity, prestigious, salience, significance, signification, stress, sum, value), gravidade (gravity, ponderosity, severity, solemnity, weight), circunspecção (chariness, circumspection, discretion, freehand, gravity, vigilance, wariness, wisdom), circunspeção (chariness, circumspection, discretion, freehand, gravity, vigilance, wariness, wisdom). (various references) seriozitate (demureness, earnest, earnestness, gravity, sobriety), serios (appreciable, demure, earnest, earnestly, genuine, grave, gravely, grievously, important, in earnest, in good earnest, intimate, matronal, minded, reliable, sad, sedate, serious, serious minded, seriously, severe, sober, solemn, solid, staid, steady, stern, valid, weighty, well-conducted), gravitate (austerity, bumptiousness, depth, gravity, severity, soberness, solemnity), cuminţenie (cleverness, discretion, reason, reasonableness, sapience, sense, wisdom), caracter serios. (various references) серьезность (demureness, earnest, gravity). (various references) svečanost (celebration, ceremony, exercise, festivity, fete, gala, powwow, solemnity), ozbiljnost (earnestness, severity, sternness, thoughtfulness). (various references) seriedad (demureness, graveness, gravity, responsibility, sedateness, severity, sobriety, thoughtfulness, wholeheartedness), gravedad (g, gravity, heaviness, nastiness, severity). (various references) allvarlighet, allvar (austerity, earnest, earnestness, gravity). (various references) vakar, ciddiyet (demureness, devoutness, earnestness, momentousness, sedateness, severity, solemnity, staidness, starch), ağırbaşlılık (dignity, equanimity, gravity, imperturbability, knighthood, sedateness, solemnity, staidness). (various references) серйозність (demureness, earnest, gravity, sadness, severity), важливість (account, amount, concern, consequence, earnest, gravity, import, importance, magnitude, moment, notability, pregnancy, significance, significancy). (various references) tính chất trầm trọng, tính chất thật sự, tính chất nghiêm trang tính chất quan trọng, tính chất nghiêm trọng, tính chất hệ trọng, tính chất đứng đắn. (various references) difrifwch (earnestness, solemnity), difrif (earnestness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | gravitas, intenta. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "seriousness": seriousnesses. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "seriousness": unseriousness. (additional references) | |
Words containing "seriousness": unseriousnesses. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "seriousness" (pronounced si"rēusnus) |
| 6 | -ē u s n u s | rebelliousness. |
| 5 | -u s n u s | callousness, carelessness, cautiousness, consciousness, contagiousness, contentiousness, disingenuousness, fractiousness, graciousness, helplessness, homelessness, hopelessness, joblessness, lawlessness, nervousness, outrageousness, pompousness, powerlessness, recklessness, restlessness, righteousness, ruthlessness, selflessness, unconsciousness, viciousness, weightlessness. |
| 4 | -s n u s | closeness, hoarseness, niceness. |
| 3 | -n u s | abruptness, absoluteness, acuteness, aggressiveness, agribusiness, airworthiness, alertness, aloofness, alumnus, Anas, androgynous, anise, appropriateness, arbitrariness, assertiveness, astuteness, asynchronous, attentiveness, attractiveness, awareness, awfulness, awkwardness, backwardness, badness, bagginess, baldness, bearishness, bigness, bitterness, bituminous, blackness, blandness, bleakness, blindness, bluntness, boldness, bonus, boorishness, brashness, brightness, bullishness, business, calmness, casualness, cavernous, cheapness, chitinous, cleanliness, cleanness, cleverness, cloudiness, clumsiness, cockiness, cohesiveness, coldness, Colonus, combativeness, compactness, competitiveness, completeness, contrariness, Conus, coolness, correctness, coziness, craziness, creativeness, creditworthiness, creepiness, crispness, crookedness, cuteness, dampness, darkness, Deaconess, deadliness, deafness, decisiveness, defensiveness, destructiveness, directness, distinctiveness, divisiveness, dizziness, dreariness, drowsiness, drunkenness, dryness, dullness, eagerness, earnestness, edginess, effectiveness, elusiveness, emptiness, evenness, exogenous, eyewitness, faintness, fairness, farsightedness, fastness, fickleness, firmness, fitness, flatness, fondness, foolishness, forcefulness, forgiveness, forthrightness, foulness, frankness, freshness, friendliness, frothiness, fullness, funniness, furnace, gauntness, gayness, gelatinous, gentleness, genuineness, genus, ghastliness, gluttonous, goodness, governess, greatness, greenness, grimness, hairiness, handedness, happiness, hardness, harmfulness, harness, harshness, heinous, highness, holiness, homesickness, homogenous, hopefulness, humanness, idleness, illness, inclusiveness, indebtedness, indecisiveness, indigenous, ineffectiveness, ineptness, inertness, intravenous, intrusiveness, inventiveness, Johannes, kindness, larcenous, largeness, lateness, laziness, lenis, lightfastness, lightness, likeness, liveliness, loneliness, lousiness, luminous, madness, Manus, meanness, membranous, menace, Minas, mindedness, minus, monotonous, mountainous, mutinous, narrowness, nastiness, nearsightedness, neatness, newness, niggardliness, nitrogenous, nonbusiness, nonpoisonous, nosiness, nothingness, numbness, ominous, oneness, onus, openness, orderliness, otherness, outspokenness, pandanus, peacefulness, penis, permissiveness, persuasiveness, pervasiveness, pettiness, playfulness, poisonous, politeness, polygynous, possessiveness, preparedness, queasiness, quickness, quietness, raciness, randomness, rareness, ravenous, rawness, readiness, reasonableness, redness, remoteness, resistiveness, resourcefulness, responsiveness, restiveness, restrictiveness, richness, rightness, riskiness, robustness, roominess, roughness, rowdiness, rudeness, ruinous, sacredness, sadness, Salinas, sameness, scantiness, secretiveness, selfishness, sensitiveness, separateness, shakiness, shallowness, sharpness, shortness, shortsightedness, shrewdness, shyness, sickness, silliness, sinus, skittishness, slackness, sleepiness, sloppiness, slovenliness, slowness, sluggishness, slyness, smallness, smoothness, smugness, softness, solitariness, soundness, spiritedness, squeamishness, starkness, steadfastness, steadiness, steepness, sternness, stiffness, stillness, stinginess, stoutness, strangeness, stubbornness, sturdiness, suddenness, suggestiveness, sweetness, swiftness, tardiness, tartness, tastiness, tenderness, tetanus, thickness, thinness, thoroughness, thoughtfulness, tightness, timeliness, tiredness, togetherness, toughness, trustworthiness, truthfulness, ugliness, uneasiness, unfairness, unhappiness, uniqueness, unpleasantness, unwieldiness, unwillingness, usefulness, vagueness, vastness, venous, villainous, vindictiveness, vividness, voluminous, wariness, wastefulness, waterishness, weakness, weariness, weirdness, wellness, wetness, whiteness, wholeness, wholesomeness, wickedness, wilderness, wildness, willingness, wimpiness, wistfulness, witness, wonderfulness, worldliness, worthiness, wryness. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-i-n-o-r-s-s-s-s-u" | |
-1 letter: rosinesses, sournesses. | |
-3 letters: enosises, enuresis, neuroses, neurosis, noesises, reissues, resinous, rosiness, seisures, sessions, soreness, sourness, sunrises, sureness. | |
-4 letters: ensures, eosines, essoins, insures, issuers, osseins, reissue, risuses, seiners, seisers, seisors, seisure, seniors, senores, sensors, sereins, serines, serious, session, sinuses, soirees, sonsier, sunrise, urinose. | |
-5 letters: enosis, ensues, ensure, enures, eosine, eosins, eroses, essoin, insure, inures, irones. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-i-n-o-r-s-s-s-s-u" | |
+1 letter: desirousness, supersession, suspensories. | |
+2 letters: curiousnesses, cursorinesses, riotousnesses, roguishnesses, ruinousnesses, seriousnesses, supersessions, unseriousness, variousnesses. | |
+3 letters: boisterousness, businessperson, censoriousness, desirousnesses, gloriousnesses, graciousnesses, grievousnesses, illusorinesses, mysteriousness, outsidernesses, perilousnesses, perviousnesses, preciousnesses, previousnesses, rigorousnesses, spuriousnesses, timorousnesses, usuriousnesses, uxoriousnesses, vigorousnesses, virtuousnesses. | |
+4 letters: atrociousnesses, businesspersons, customarinesses, deliriousnesses, desultorinesses, egregiousnesses, ferociousnesses, fractiousnesses, frivolousnesses, hilariousnesses, imperiousnesses, incuriousnesses, injuriousnesses, laboriousnesses, ludicrousnesses, luxuriousnesses, obtrusivenesses, penuriousnesses, perspicuousness, pestiferousness, prestigiousness, purposivenesses, rapaciousnesses, religiousnesses, righteousnesses, unprepossessing, unseriousnesses, veraciousnesses, vicariousnesses, voraciousnesses. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)53 65 72 69 6F 75 73 6E 65 73 73 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)... . .-. .. --- ..- ... -. . ... ... |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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