Definitions

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective excessively serious

Etymologies

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Examples

  • One, it underlined how weirdly obsessed and overserious NBA fans are about the league's all-time pecking order—witness the recent howling when Dallas's coach dared suggest that Dirk Nowitzki belonged in the greatest-ever Top 10, as if there was the possibility the Martian All-Stars might arrive and our planet would get hammered in the low post because it opted for Nowitzki over Hakeem Olajuwon.

    No Use Denying the LeBrilliance Anymore Jason Gay 2011

  • What Dreams May Come was a beautiful but deeply overserious meditation on the personal nature of heaven and hell, by Peter Jackson's countryman Vincent Ward.

    Alex Remington: The Lovely Bones: Half of a Good Movie, Then a Slow-Motion Mess 2010

  • He was gone before I could tell him that the man he had pointed out, Eddie Alfanta, was a regular at the bar, always came with his wife, Cheryl, whom he adored, and was a well-known accountant downtown -- overserious but successful, with an office on Bishop Street.

    Beard 2010

  • But she had a radiant smile—not so common among overserious Iranian politicians—and a Nokia mobile phone cord clipped beneath her chin, for constant calling.

    Let the Swords Encircle Me Scott Peterson 2010

  • The Aussie management style, which tends to be open, egalitarian and not overserious, also plays well with the troops.

    Up Top, From Down Under 2008

  • Actually, she had courted him—by throwing her hand muff at a handsome, if apparently overserious, young ensign as he drilled some sailors on a dock in Norfolk, Virginia.

    Sea of Thunder Evan Thomas 2006

  • Actually, she had courted him—by throwing her hand muff at a handsome, if apparently overserious, young ensign as he drilled some sailors on a dock in Norfolk, Virginia.

    Sea of Thunder Evan Thomas 2006

  • Like a dreary overblown, overserious, super-depressing needless remake of a TV show most people had forgotten about.

    Colin Farrell Gets His Stalky Restraining Order 2006

  • He showed a sly, deadpan humor as Legolas in Lord of the Rings and even as the stalwart and overserious Will Turner, straight man to Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow, he had flashes of wit and the devil may care attitude that all swashbuckling heroes must have in the face of impossible odds.

    Lance Mannion: 2005

  • He showed a sly, deadpan humor as Legolas in Lord of the Rings and even as the stalwart and overserious Will Turner, straight man to Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow, he had flashes of wit and the devil may care attitude that all swashbuckling heroes must have in the face of impossible odds.

    Buckle your swashes! 2005

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