seriousness

noun

Definition of seriousnessnext
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of seriousness But this particular reality show tries to justify its controversial existence by proclaiming its seriousness with regards to psychology, philosophy, and current events. — Judy Berman, Time, 21 Oct. 2026 There’s a level of seriousness that belies the 90-minute comedy film he’s made, which features an imbecilic white rapper who speaks in Caribbean-British slang and a contraption that shoots bullets out of one’s rear end. — Lacey Rose, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026 Selman likens the project to engineering, and Arabo brought to the assignment a similar level of meticulous seriousness. — Max Berlinger, Vogue, 19 Oct. 2026 The food obsessions, fears and even nightmares went away, but so too did Jasper’s grasp of the seriousness of his condition. — Anna Cooban, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2026 Mandell never let his artistic seriousness stand in the way of his silliness. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026 Structured data must be reviewed with the same seriousness as page titles or internal links. — Vin Sonpal, Forbes.com, 15 Oct. 2026 However, the students who spoke with CBS Colorado said the alerts did not adequately explain the seriousness of the situation. — Christa Swanson, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026 This type of leader isn’t likely to emerge in a political culture that rewards antics and showmanship and punishes seriousness and integrity. — Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 12 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for seriousness
  1. gravity
  2. earnestness
  3. solemnity
Noun
  • No bigger than a microwave oven, Idefix will plop onto Phobos by itself, bouncing for several minutes before coming to a halt in the moon's extraordinarily low gravity.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2026
  • At the time, Rastinejad and her colleagues wondered whether a black hole’s gravity had ripped up a companion neutron star, as if unseen godly hands had pulled it apart like dough.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of gravity
Noun
  • But the earnestness of their performances, the texture of their hesitation, makes the video far more compelling than any of its deepfake counterparts.
    — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Still, there’s something to the earnestness with which the movie does finally have its daddy issues and its cetacean ones intersect.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of earnestness
Noun
  • Adding to the solemnity of the occasion was a string quartet that played two slow movements from Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite.
    — Peter E. Gordon, The New York Review of Books, 3 Oct. 2026
  • What’s also obvious from Mel’s photography is the solemnity of these places and the humanity of those living and working within them.
    — Stephanie Hanes, Christian Science Monitor, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of solemnity

Browse Nearby Words

serious-mindedness
seriousness
sermon
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Seriousness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/seriousness. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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