as in intentness
a mental state free of jesting or trifling
we knew from the doctor's seriousness that she didn't have good news
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Recent Examples of seriousness
Saturn’s shift back into your sign back on the 1st will have added a layer of seriousness to this whole process, urging you to take responsibility for your path and your patterns.
—
Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Oct. 2025
This is a testament to the passion and seriousness with which so many professors approach their work as teachers (and, also, to the genuine curiosity and ambition of their students).
—Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2025
Those claims already stretched the limits of seriousness and legality, targeting splinter groups – at best – and other bad actors completely unassociated with Al Qaeda at worst.
—Alexander Langlois, Oc Register, 30 Sep. 2025
But, of course, there’s a seriousness of crowd-satisfying intent beneath that casual good humor.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 30 Sep. 2025
Considering the seriousness of the injury, Hill’s 2025 season could be over.
—Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2025
Fans also claimed there were issues in reporting the seriousness of the situation to stewards, that the first defibrillator brought to treat Mark ran out of battery after two shocks and that there was a span of 20 minutes between his collapse and oxygen being provided.
—Steve Madeley, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2025
Critics point to Bolton’s public statements over the years about the seriousness of protecting classified information.
—Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
Police officials quickly confirmed the seriousness of the threat.
—Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 21 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for seriousness
Noun
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Its economy today is one that defies gravity.—
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Would it be aligned with the gas, pointing away from the existence of dark matter and towards evidence for a modified law of gravity?—
Noun
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The earnestness and sincerity that characterized so much music from the late ’90s were overtaken by the sneering rage of nu metal.—
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When there is a buck to be made, a rapidly emerging necessity can be met with ardent earnestness.—
Noun
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There are dozens of little moments of quiet kindness and profound mourning, of gentle reflection and solemnity, of nature reaching out to Atsu, and by proxy, the player.—
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Any solemnity that might be engendered by the president accompanied by an official entourage to his private residence near the Spanish Steps is amusingly offset by the robot law enforcement dog leading the way.—
Cite this Entry
“Seriousness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/seriousness. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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