seriousness C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /ˈsɪriəsnəs/ UK /ˈsɪəriəsnəs/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the quality of being grave, earnest, or of grave importance The doctor stressed the seriousness of the diagnosis. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the quality of being grave,... gravityearnestnesssolemnitysobrietygravenesssincerity ↔ Opposites levityfrivolityflippancytriviality Word family Related forms seriousseriously Etymology AI details From serious (via Old French serieux from Late Latin seriosus, from Latin serius, 'weighty, grave') plus the noun-forming suffix -ness. serius Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # seriousness **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈsɪriəsnəs/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈsɪəriəsnəs/ ## Meanings 1. the quality of being grave, earnest, or of grave importance ## Examples - The doctor stressed the seriousness of the diagnosis. ## Synonyms - gravity - earnestness - solemnity - sobriety - graveness - sincerity ## Antonyms - levity - frivolity - flippancy - triviality ## Related Forms - serious - seriously ## Roots and Affixes - Root: serius ## Etymology From serious (via Old French serieux from Late Latin seriosus, from Latin serius, 'weighty, grave') plus the noun-forming suffix -ness. ## AI Etymology Seriousness comes from serious (via Old French serieux from Late Latin seriosus, from Latin serius, 'weighty, grave') plus the noun-forming suffix -ness. The historical chain includes Latin serius. The quoted older sense, "weighty, grave," supplies the immediate semantic anchor for seriousness. The formation is best read as suffixal and borrowed: the word seriousness carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "the quality of being grave, earnest, or of grave importance". Related English forms include serious and seriously. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown