seriousness
Americannoun
-
earnest or sincere character or attitude.
The proposal was talked about, but I can't say with how much seriousness it was discussed.
-
solemn or somber character or attitude.
Is that why your face is so grim—you're fighting to maintain seriousness and not laugh at the speaker’s name?
-
the quality of showing or requiring deep thought or concentration.
The two chefs approach their gourmet cuisine with the pensive seriousness others might bring to a difficult math problem.
-
the quality of being important or weighty, or of giving cause for concern.
We need educational tools that convey the seriousness of copyright infringement, as well as its consequences and penalties.
Other Word Forms
- half-seriousness noun
- nonseriousness noun
- overseriousness noun
- superseriousness noun
- ultraseriousness noun
- unseriousness noun
Etymology
Origin of seriousness
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"We will focus on the things that make the biggest difference to daily life, and we will deliver them with the seriousness that government demands."
From BBC
These patchwork visions have a restrained, contemplative air that carefully weighs the seriousness of their themes without ever dipping into melodrama or titillation.
Despite the seriousness of the case, this is the only part of it that has come to trial and took place in a court concerned only by misdemeanors.
From BBC
Esfandiari was sentenced to four years, of which three are suspended, the judge said, citing "the nature of the acts and their seriousness."
From Barron's
"He recognised the seriousness of what happened, or rather, what didn't happen, and the distress it caused. He offered, and we repeat, an unreserved apology to the families of the deceased and the survivors."
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
