Serious
['sɪərɪəs] or ['sɪrɪəs]
Definition
(adj.) requiring effort or concentration; complex and not easy to answer or solve; 'raised serious objections to the proposal'; 'the plan has a serious flaw' .
(adj.) of great consequence; 'marriage is a serious matter' .
(adj.) 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!' .
Inputed by Carmela--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Grave in manner or disposition; earnest; thoughtful; solemn; not light, gay, or volatile.
(a.) Really intending what is said; being in earnest; not jesting or deceiving.
(a.) Important; weighty; not trifling; grave.
(a.) Hence, giving rise to apprehension; attended with danger; as, a serious injury.
Editor: Meredith
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Grave, solemn, sedate, staid, sober, earnest, demure, not gay, not sportive or jocose.[2]. Important, weighty, great, momentous.
Checker: Roderick
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Grave, thoughtful, careful, earnest, solemn, important, weighty
ANT:Volatile, gay, thoughtless, careless, joking, jocose, insignificant,unimportant, trifling, trivial, light
Typed by Abe
Definition
adj. solemn: in earnest: important: attended with danger: weighty: professedly religious.—adjs. Sē′rio-com′ic -al partly serious and partly comical.—adv. Sē′riously gravely deeply: without levity.—n. Sē′riousness.
Editor: Omar
Examples
- A serious occurrence that might have resulted in accident drove him soon after from Canada, although the youth could hardly be held to blame for it. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- This is an extraordinary story,' observed Lightwood, who had heard it out with serious attention. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The crisis was serious. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- A serious difference of opinion, as you see! Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Kitty, who took all these threats in a serious light, began to cry. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- She was naturally sensible, and misfortunes had made her serious. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- We got it in the last serious raid. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- How very serious--how very solemn you look: and you are as ignorant of the matter as this cameo head (taking one from the mantelpiece). Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- The aunt was a young woman, and she had a serious way with her eyes of watching me. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- I told them, what I really thought, that the enquiry would be of a serious nature, and would require very good eyes. Plato. The Republic.
- Do not suppose, however, that I wish to dictate happiness to you, or that a delay on your part would cause me any serious uneasiness. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- As there can be nothing more serious in this world. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- My illness has made me think It has given me leisure and calmness for serious recollection. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- The moral of the thing was serious, according to my daughter. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- I have given you a serious shock by my unnecessarily dramatic reappearance. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- He is lively, you are serious; but so much the better: his spirits will support yours. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- If you will not speak first, I said, I muSt. I have come here with something serious to say to you. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- His face grew serious. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Turning to geographical distribution, the difficulties encountered on the theory of descent with modification are serious enough. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- But, according to another co-worker, Edison seemed pleased when he used to run up against a serious difficulty. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- A fault which is most serious, I said; the fault of telling a lie, and, what is more, a bad lie. Plato. The Republic.
- You wouldn't believe, sir, that I feel serious now? Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- A very serious boy. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- There were also ineffectual revolts in Italy and Germany in 1830, and a much more serious one in Russian Poland. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- I think it's serious, sir. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- In 1808 he committed a very serious blunder. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Supposing then, for instance--any unlikely thing will do for a supposition--that you and your mother were to have a serious quarrel. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- It would be dishonorable to let others engage themselves to anything serious in dependence on me. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I see three very serious questions involved in the Colonel's birthday-gift to my cousin Rachel. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- She was looking mighty serious, but a little puzzled. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
Editor: Omar