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# serious

«serious» in Mova's school dictionary: **bad or dangerous enough to worry about: a serious…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (serious, more serious, most serious); adverb seriously

### meaning for a pupil

1) Serious means bad or dangerous enough to worry about: a serious illness, a serious accident. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#m1)

2) A serious person is thoughtful and not joking or laughing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#m2)

3) If you are serious about something, you really mean it and are not pretending. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#m3)

4) Serious can mean important and needing careful thought: a serious talk. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In safety lessons «serious» marks danger that needs an adult or emergency help: a serious burn, a serious injury, a serious allergy. In stories a serious face or voice tells the reader a character is not joking and something important is happening. In everyday talk: «Are you serious?» means «Do you really mean it?». Phrases: take something seriously, seriously hurt, a serious face, deadly serious.

### examples

- A serious cut needs a doctor, not just a plaster. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#x1)
- Grandpa had a serious look on his face when he read the letter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#x2)
- Are you serious? You really saw a fox in the garden? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#x3)
- The teacher wants to have a serious talk with the class about bullying. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#x4)
- Take fire alarms seriously and leave the building straight away. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#x5)
- She is serious about learning the piano and practises every day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#x6)
- The flood caused serious damage to the town. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#x7)
- He tried to stay serious, but he started to giggle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#x8)
- It was a serious matter for him. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/#x9)

### note

Comparison: more serious, most serious (not «seriouser»). Adverb: seriously («seriously hurt»). Opposite in the joking sense: funny, playful, joking; opposite in the danger sense: minor, slight. «Serious» does not mean «sad», though a serious face can look sad.

### In the corpora

- [Crime is on the news a lot, but most people live their whole lives without serious crime touching them.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/3/)
- [In November 2019 Prince Andrew stepped back from public duties after a BBC interview about his friendship with a man convicted of serious crimes.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/44-the-royal-family-in-the-news-a-wedding-a-move-to-america-an-interview-and-a-book/22/)
- [Serious accusations belong to courts and investigations, not to jokes in the playground.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/44-the-royal-family-in-the-news-a-wedding-a-move-to-america-an-interview-and-a-book/25/)
- [Newsreaders speak slowly and look serious about deaths to show respect for the people who died and their families.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/18/)
- [Some hopes are big and serious: cures for diseases, help learning in any language.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/24-future-hopes/2/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «serious» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serious/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.