seriously

[ seer-ee-uhs-lee ]

/ ˈsɪər i əs li /

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See synonyms for seriously on Thesaurus.com

adverb

in a serious manner: He shook his head seriously.

to an alarmingly grave extent: seriously ill.

with genuine, earnest intent; sincerely: Seriously, kids, we have to get home before dark.

QUIZ

SHALL WE PLAY A "SHALL" VS. "SHOULD" CHALLENGE?

Should you take this quiz on “shall” versus “should”? It should prove to be a quick challenge!

Question 1 of 6

Which form is used to state an obligation or duty someone has?

shall

should

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Origin of seriously

First recorded in 1500–10; serious + -ly

Words nearby seriously

serine, seringa, Seringapatam, seriocomic, serious, seriously, serious-minded, seriousness, seriplane, serjeant, serjeant at arms

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use seriously in a sentence

Some people might still develop some sort of infection a second time, he says, and if they mount a strong immune response, they may not get seriously ill, but they may still shed the virus and infect other people.
A man in Hong Kong is the first confirmed case of coronavirus reinfection|Erin Garcia de Jesus|August 24, 2020|Science News
Those drugs may keep seriously ill people from dying and help them recover faster, but it would be far better to keep people from getting so sick in the first place, scientists say.
New treatments aim to treat COVID-19 early, before it gets serious|Tina Hesman Saey|August 24, 2020|Science News
Though children appear less likely to become seriously ill or die than adults, youngsters do get infected.
When science doesn’t yet have the answers|Nancy Shute|August 23, 2020|Science News
Sporty women have selected their position on the gender binary, we’re told, and must double down to be taken seriously.
In Praise of the Adventure Dress|Alison Van Houten|August 22, 2020|Outside Online

If stakeholder interests are to be taken seriously, stakeholderism should be rejected.
Revisiting the Business Roundtable’s ‘Stakeholder Capitalism,’ one year later|Geoffrey Colvin|August 19, 2020|Fortune
Yet this, in the end, is a book from which one emerges sad, gloomy, disenchanted, at least if we agree to take it seriously.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“They sure took the Sony thing seriously,” Attkisson said dryly.
Ex-CBS Reporter Sharyl Attkisson’s Battle Royale With the Feds|Lloyd Grove|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Although Huckabee's condescending tone - like that of an elementary school history teacher - makes it difficult to take seriously.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If mercy is not preached by a national figure we take seriously, our battles over policy power will grow ever more merciless.
No Gods, No Cops, No Masters|James Poulos|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
All 101 passengers survived but four were seriously injured.
Who Will Get AsiaAir 8501’s Black Boxes?|Clive Irving|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Mrs. Charmington hastened to spread the report that his Royal Highness was seriously smitten.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Children, like uneducated adults, have been known to take a spectacle on the stage of a theatre too seriously.
Children's Ways|James Sully
If he would take her a little more seriously—it 's an immense pity he married her because she was silly!
Confidence|Henry James
Sam buttoned the will carefully in a side pocket; intimating by a look meanwhile, that he did mean it, and very seriously too.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, v. 2(of 2)|Charles Dickens
I say "we," because another is mixed up in this business even more seriously than the Kaiser.
First Plays|A. A. Milne

British Dictionary definitions for seriously

seriously

/ (ˈsɪərɪəslɪ) /

adverb

in a serious manner or to a serious degree

informal extremely or remarkablyseriously tall

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

seriously

Origin of seriously

Words nearby seriously

Words related to seriously

How to use seriously in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for seriously