Hypertext Webster Gateway: "seriousness"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Serious \Se"ri*ous\, a. [L. serius: cf. F. s['e]rieux, LL.
seriosus.]
1. Grave in manner or disposition; earnest; thoughtful;
solemn; not light, gay, or volatile.
He is always serious, yet there is about his manner
a graceful ease. --Macaulay.
2. Really intending what is said; being in earnest; not
jesting or deceiving. --Beaconsfield.
3. Important; weighty; not trifling; grave.
The holy Scriptures bring to our ears the most
serious things in the world. --Young.
4. Hence, giving rise to apprehension; attended with danger;
as, a serious injury.
Syn: Grave; solemn; earnest; sedate; important; weighty. See
{Grave}. -- {Se"ri*ous*ly}, adv. -- {Se"ri*ous*ness}, n.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
seriousness
n 1: an earnest and sincere feeling [syn: {earnestness}, {sincerity}]
2: the quality of arousing fear or distress; "he learned the
seriousness of his illness" [syn: {distressfulness}]
3: the trait of being serious; "a lack of solemnity is not
necessarily a lack of seriousness"- Robert Rice [syn: {earnestness},
{serious-mindedness}, {sincerity}] [ant: {frivolity}]
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