Dictionary

seriousness en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈsɪɹiəsnəs/ (General-American)
• /ˈsɪəɹiəsnəs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio

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 Proto-Germanic *-in- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English seriousness From serious + -ness.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The state or quality of being serious.
   • Though Bane’s sing-song voice gives his pronouncements a funny lilt, he doesn’t have any of the Joker’s deranged wit, and Nolan isn’t interested in undercutting his seriousness for the sake of a breezier entertainment. 2012 July 18, Scott Tobias, “The Dark Knight Rises”, in AV Club, archived from the original on 23 Mar 2013:
   • “[…] She takes the whole thing with desperate seriousness. But the others are all easy and jovial—thinking about the good fare that is soon to be eaten, about the hired fly, about anything.” 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
   • ‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […]? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers? 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

Forms

Antonyms

jocularity · levity · unseriousness

Deriveds

nonseriousness

Relateds

sincerity · self-seriousness · serious · sincereness

Synonyms

seriosity · earnestness · sobriety

Translations (33)

fr gravité (state of being serious) · gl seriedade (state of being serious) · nb alvorlighet (state of being serious) · ca gravetat (state of being serious) · tr ciddiyet (state of being serious) · ru серьёзность (state of being serious) · ar جِدِّيَّة (state of being serious) · it serietà (state of being serious) · de Ernsthaftigkeit (state of being serious) · enm sadnesse (state of being serious) · es seriedad (state of being serious) · sh ozbíljnōst (state of being serious) · hy լրջություն (state of being serious) · af ernstig (state of being serious) · nl ernst (state of being serious) · pt seriedade (state of being serious) · el σοβαρότητα (state of being serious) · pl powaga (state of being serious) · nb seriøsitet (state of being serious) · nn seriøsitet (state of being serious) · it gravità (state of being serious) · nb alvor (state of being serious) · fi vakavuus (state of being serious) · bg важност (state of being serious) · fr sériosité (state of being serious) · ro seriozitate (state of being serious) · ca serietat (state of being serious) · cs vážnost (state of being serious) · da alvor (state of being serious) · nn alvor (state of being serious) · pt gravidade (state of being serious) · bg сериозност (state of being serious) · eo seriozeco (state of being serious)