seriousness
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Etymology
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɪɹiəsnəs/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɪəɹiəsnəs/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Hyphenation: se‧ri‧ous‧ness
Noun
seriousness (countable and uncountable, plural seriousnesses)
- The state or quality of being serious.
- Synonyms: earnestness, seriosity (uncommon)
- Antonyms: jocularity, levity, unseriousness
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- “ […] She takes the whole thing with desperate seriousness. But the others are all easy and jovial—thinking about the good fare that is soon to be eaten, about the hired fly, about anything.”
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- ‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […] ? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?
Related terms
Translations
state of being serious
|
See also
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.