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Seriousness

Definitions: Seriousness

Seriousness

Noun

1. 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: Seriousness

Synonyms: distressfulness (n), earnestness (n), serious-mindedness (n), sincerity (n). (additional references)
Antonym: frivolity (n). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Seriousness

ContextSynonyms 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.

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Crosswords: Seriousness

English words defined with "seriousness": airheadeddegree, distressfulness, dizzyempty-headed, extenuatefeatherbrainedgiddyJocoseriouslevity, light-headedmajor, minor, mitigatepalliatesedateness, Serio-comical, silly, solemness, solemnity, staidnessTo trifle with, trivialise, trivialize. (references)

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Commercial Usage: Seriousness

DomainTitle

Books

  • Cost of Seriousness (reference)

  • From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of Play (reference)

  • Information barriers : identification and seriousness (reference)

  • Stop laughing! I'm being serious : three studies in seriousness and wit in contemporary Australian poetry (reference)

  • The call to seriousness : the evangelical impact on the Victorians (reference)

    (more book examples)

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

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Image Slideshow: Seriousness

Computer Images:
Seriousness

More images...

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Familiar Quotations: Seriousness

AuthorQuotation

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.

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Use in Literature: Seriousness

TitleAuthorQuote

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

This sudden seriousness, sometimes strangely marked, resembled the disdain of a goddess.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Seriousness

SubjectTopicQuote

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.

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Speeches: Seriousness

SpeakerTermPhrase(s)

Lyndon B. Johnson

1963-1969I 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.

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Usage Frequency: Seriousness

"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 SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Noun (singular)100%57810,939

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

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Expression: Seriousness

Hypenated Usage

Ending with "seriousness": non-seriousness.

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

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Modern Translations: Seriousness

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

   

Portuguese

  

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)

   

Romanian

  

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)

   

Russian 

  

серьезность (demureness, earnest, gravity). (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

svečanost (celebration, ceremony, exercise, festivity, fete, gala, powwow, solemnity), ozbiljnost (earnestness, severity, sternness, thoughtfulness). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

seriedad (demureness, graveness, gravity, responsibility, sedateness, severity, sobriety, thoughtfulness, wholeheartedness), gravedad (g, gravity, heaviness, nastiness, severity). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

allvarlighet, allvar (austerity, earnest, earnestness, gravity). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

vakar, ciddiyet (demureness, devoutness, earnestness, momentousness, sedateness, severity, solemnity, staidness, starch), ağırbaşlılık (dignity, equanimity, gravity, imperturbability, knighthood, sedateness, solemnity, staidness). (various references)

   

Ukranian 

  

серйозність (demureness, earnest, gravity, sadness, severity), важливість (account, amount, concern, consequence, earnest, gravity, import, importance, magnitude, moment, notability, pregnancy, significance, significancy). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

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)

   

Welsh

  

difrifwch (earnestness, solemnity), difrif (earnestness). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Seriousness

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Latin500 BCE-Modern

gravitas, intenta. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Derivations: Seriousness

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).

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Rhyming with "Seriousness"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "seriousness" (pronounced si"rēusnus)
6-ē u s n u srebelliousness.
5-u s n u scallousness, 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 scloseness, hoarseness, niceness.
3-n u sabruptness, 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.

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Anagrams: Seriousness

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.

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Alternative Orthography: Seriousness


Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

53 65 72 69 6F 75 73 6E 65 73 73

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)

=

Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)

Braille (1829, in France) (references)

Morse Code (1836) (references)

...    .    .-.    ..    ---    ..-    ...    -.    .    ...    ...

Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)

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Bibliographic Items: "seriousness"


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Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "seriousness"

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Public Service or Web Sites Triggered by: Seriousness