- serious
- se|ri|ous [ `sıriəs ] adjective ***▸ 1 bad enough to worry you▸ 2 deserving attention▸ 3 not joking▸ 4 careful and detailed▸ 5 not laughing much▸ 6 involving difficult ideas▸ 7 involving strong feelings▸ 8 caring about activity▸ 9 extreme/large in amount1. ) bad or dangerous enough to make you worried:a serious illness/accident/injury: a serious head injurya serious problem/mistake: It's not a serious problem we should be able to fix it easily.a serious crime/offense/threat: An accident like this poses a serious threat to the environment.The sale of the company will have serious implications for people's jobs.2. ) important and deserving attention:This is an extremely serious matter.He has no serious competition for the job.3. ) meaning what you say or do, and not making a joke:I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were being serious.The police have made no serious attempt to address these issues.serious about: I'm not convinced they're serious about the deal.serious about doing something: Do you think Mike's serious about going to live in New York?deadly/dead (=completely) serious: Are you serious about leaving your job? Dead serious.a ) be serious SPOKEN used for telling someone that you think what they are saying is not sensible:Be serious! How would we pay for a vacation in the Bahamas?you can't be serious: You can't be serious! You're actually going to lend him money again?b ) I'm serious SPOKEN used for emphasizing that you mean what you say:I'm serious. I don't ever want to see you again.4. ) careful and detailed:serious consideration/thought/discussion: We'll have to give the situation some serious thought.5. ) someone who is serious thinks carefully about things and does not laugh much:Peter seems serious but he actually has a good sense of humor.a ) appearing worried or upset:Is Mary all right? She looked a little serious.6. ) usually before noun dealing with important, complicated, or difficult ideas or subjects:serious books/music7. ) if you are in a serious romantic relationship with someone, you intend to stay together for a long time:Is it getting serious with you and June?a serious boyfriend/girlfriend/relationship: He's never had a serious relationship with anyone.8. ) involved in an activity in a way that shows you like it a lot and think it is important:My father is a serious runner.9. ) INFORMAL extreme, or large in amount:We did some serious hiking last weekend.It's time you made some serious money.╾ se|ri|ous|ness noun uncount
Usage of the words and phrases in modern English. 2013.