serious

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“
Police said they were investigating how the deception went undetected for so long in what they described as a serious security breach.

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Definitions (26)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (11)

  1. adjective Grave in quality or manner: gave me a serious look.
  2. adjective Carried out in earnest: engaged in serious drinking; serious study of Italian.
  3. adjective Deeply interested or involved: a serious card player.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (8)

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Examples (30)

  • What might happen? im scared is this serious is there something wrong with my lungs? —  Yahoo! Answers: Latest Questions
  • Police said they were investigating how the deception went undetected for so long in what they described as a serious security breach. —  chron.com Chronicle
  • That's non-serious, which is why Sarah Palin was so into it. —  The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com
  • She was the Bella I imagined from the books -- serious, a bit of an outsider, and with a gentle, kind heart. —  Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider
  • POLICE are appealing for witnesses after what they described as a serious assault on a man was carried out by a group of youths at the junction of Oswald Street and London Road in Carlisle at 9. 30pm on Thursday. —  News round-up
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

real ·  severe ·  significant ·  further
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French serieux, from Late Latin sēriōsus, from Latin sērius.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Early modern English seriouse, seryouse; from Middle English seryows, from Old French serieux, French sérieux = Italian serioso, from Middle Latin seriosus, an extension of Latin sērius (later Italian Spanish Portuguese serio), grave, earnest, serious; perhaps for * sevrius, and in effect another form of severus, grave, serious, austere, severe: see severe. Some compare Anglo-Saxon swǣr, swār = Old Saxon swār = OFries. swēre = Middle Dutch swaere, Dutch zwaar = Middle Low German swār = Old High German swāri, swār, Middle High German swære, German schwer, heavy, weighty, = Icelandic svārr = Swedish svår = Danish svær, heavy, = Gothic (Moesogothic) swērs, esteemed, honored (literally ‘heavy’ ?); cf. Lithuanian swarùs, heavy, svóras, sváras, weight.
 

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/ˈsirɪəs/
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