serious
/ˈsɪɚ.i.əs/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.10 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition.
adj
Important; weighty; not insignificant.
adj
Example Sentences
- "deadly serious"
- "It was a surprise to see the captain, who had always seemed so serious, laugh so heartily."
- "This is a serious problem. We'll need our best experts."
- "After all these years, we're finally getting serious attention."
- "He says he wants to buy the team, but is he serious?"
- "I was being deadly serious when I made that suggestion."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Italic *sēros Latin sērus Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius ? Proto-Indo-European *swer- Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *swerjos? Latin sērius Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos? Old Latin -ōssus Latin -ōsus Medieval Latin sēriōsus Old French serieuxbor. Middle English seryows English serious From Middle English seryows, from Old French serieux, from Medieval Latin sēriōsus, an extension of Latin sērius (“grave, earnest, serious”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“heavy”). (If this root is correct, cognate with German schwer (“heavy, difficult, severe”), Old English swǣr (“heavy, grave, grievous”). More at swear, sweer. However, see sērius for an alternative derivation of the Latin.)
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈsɪɚ.i.əs/
- British English: /ˈsɪə̯.ɹi.əs/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more serious (comparative)
most serious (superlative)