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 →

2) A serious person is thoughtful and not joking or laughing. tree →

3) If you are serious about something, you really mean it and are not pretending. tree →

4) Serious can mean important and needing careful thought: a serious talk. tree →

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 →
• Grandpa had a serious look on his face when he read the letter. tree →
• Are you serious? You really saw a fox in the garden? tree →
• The teacher wants to have a serious talk with the class about bullying. tree →
• Take fire alarms seriously and leave the building straight away. tree →
• She is serious about learning the piano and practises every day. tree →
• The flood caused serious damage to the town. tree →
• He tried to stay serious, but he started to giggle. tree →
• It was a serious matter for him. tree →

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.
• In November 2019 Prince Andrew stepped back from public duties after a BBC interview about his friendship with a man convicted of serious crimes.
• Serious accusations belong to courts and investigations, not to jokes in the playground.
• Newsreaders speak slowly and look serious about deaths to show respect for the people who died and their families.
• Some hopes are big and serious: cures for diseases, help learning in any language.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «serious» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.