Serious — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities

of great consequence

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/sˈɪɹiəs/

🇬🇧British English

/sˈiəɹiəs/

🇮🇳Indian English

/sˈiəɹiəs/

2 syllables Say it as /sˈɪɹiəs/.

Examples

a serious student of history
a serious attempt to learn to ski
gave me a serious look

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

grievous dangerous unplayful life-threatening sober severe grave good

Antonyms

frivolous playful

Parts of Speech

adjective	concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities “a serious student of history”
adjective	of great consequence “marriage is a serious matter”
adjective	causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm “a dangerous operation”
adjective	appealing to the mind “good music”
adjective	completely lacking in playfulness
adjective	requiring effort or concentration; complex and not easy to answer or solve “raised serious objections to the proposal”

Word Forms

seriousness	noun	the trait of being serious; - Robert Rice
dangerousness	noun	the quality of not being safe
severeness	noun	used of the degree of something undesirable e.g. pain or weather
goodness	noun	that which is pleasing or valuable or useful
soberness	noun	a manner that is serious and solemn

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

ernst

beschäftigt sich eher mit der Arbeit oder wichtigen Angelegenheiten als mit Vergnügen oder Trivialitäten

🇫🇷French

sérieux

préoccupé par le travail ou des questions importantes plutôt que par le jeu ou les trivialités

🇪🇸Spanish

grave

preocupado por el trabajo o asuntos importantes en lugar del juego o trivialidades

🇮🇹Italian

serio

interessato al lavoro o a questioni importanti piuttosto che al gioco o alle banalità

🇳🇱Dutch

serieus

bezig met werk of belangrijke zaken in plaats van met spelen of trivialiteiten

🇵🇹Portuguese

sério

preocupado com o trabalho ou assuntos importantes, em vez de diversão ou trivialidades

🇷🇺Russian

серьезный

озабочен работой или важными делами, а не игрой или пустяками

India

🇮🇳Hindi

गंभीर

खेल या छोटी-छोटी बातों के बजाय काम या महत्वपूर्ण मामलों से चिंतित

🇧🇩Bengali

গুরুতর

খেলা বা তুচ্ছ বিষয়ের চেয়ে কাজ বা গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় নিয়ে উদ্বিগ্ন

🇮🇳Tamil

தீவிரமான

விளையாட்டு அல்லது அற்ப விஷயங்களைக் காட்டிலும் வேலை அல்லது முக்கியமான விஷயங்களில் அக்கறை கொண்டவர்

🇮🇳Telugu

తీవ్రమైన

ఆట లేదా చిన్నవిషయాల కంటే పని లేదా ముఖ్యమైన విషయాలకు సంబంధించినది

🇮🇳Marathi

गंभीर

खेळ किंवा क्षुल्लक गोष्टींपेक्षा काम किंवा महत्त्वाच्या गोष्टींशी संबंधित

🇮🇳Gujarati

ગંભીર

રમત અથવા તુચ્છ બાબતોને બદલે કામ અથવા મહત્વપૂર્ણ બાબતો સાથે સંબંધિત

🇮🇳Kannada

ಗಂಭೀರ

ಆಟ ಅಥವಾ ಕ್ಷುಲ್ಲಕತೆಗಳಿಗಿಂತ ಕೆಲಸ ಅಥವಾ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ವಿಷಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದೆ

🇮🇳Malayalam

ഗുരുതരമായ

കളിയെക്കാളും നിസ്സാരകാര്യങ്ങളേക്കാളും ജോലിയോ പ്രധാനപ്പെട്ട കാര്യങ്ങളോ ആയി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਗੰਭੀਰ

ਖੇਡਣ ਜਾਂ ਮਾਮੂਲੀ ਗੱਲਾਂ ਦੀ ਬਜਾਏ ਕੰਮ ਜਾਂ ਮਹੱਤਵਪੂਰਣ ਮਾਮਲਿਆਂ ਨਾਲ ਸਬੰਧਤ

🇵🇰Urdu

سنجیدہ

کھیل یا معمولی باتوں کے بجائے کام یا اہم معاملات سے متعلق

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

严肃的

关心工作或重要的事情而不是玩耍或琐事

🇯🇵Japanese

深刻な

遊びや些細なことではなく、仕事や重要な事柄に関心がある

🇰🇷Korean

심각한

놀이나 사소한 일보다는 일이나 중요한 문제에 관심을 갖습니다.

🇻🇳Vietnamese

nghiêm trọng

quan tâm đến công việc hoặc những vấn đề quan trọng hơn là vui chơi hay những chuyện tầm thường

🇹🇭Thai

จริงจัง

เกี่ยวข้องกับงานหรือเรื่องสำคัญมากกว่าการเล่นหรือเรื่องไร้สาระ

🇮🇩Indonesian

serius

lebih mementingkan pekerjaan atau hal-hal penting daripada bermain atau hal-hal sepele

🇵🇭Filipino

seryoso

nababahala sa trabaho o mahahalagang bagay sa halip na paglalaro o mga bagay na walang kabuluhan

🇲🇾Malay

serius

mementingkan kerja atau perkara penting daripada bermain atau perkara remeh

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

جاد

يهتم بالعمل أو الأمور المهمة بدلاً من اللعب أو التفاهات

🇮🇷Persian

جدی

به جای بازی یا چیزهای بی اهمیت، به کار یا مسائل مهم اهمیت می دهد

🇹🇷Turkish

cidden

oyun ya da önemsiz şeylerden ziyade işle ya da önemli meselelerle ilgilenen

🇮🇱Hebrew

רְצִינִי

עוסק בעבודה או בעניינים חשובים ולא במשחק או בזוטות

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'serious'?

The primary meaning of 'serious' is 'concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'serious' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'serious' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'serious' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'serious' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'serious' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'serious' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'serious' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'serious' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'serious' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'serious' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted