seri-, serio-

Mixing humor or something funny with serious matters.

Excessively serious.

Serious and comic at the same time.

1. Grave in quality or manner.
2. Carried out in earnest: "He was engaged in serious drinking".
3. Deeply interested or involved: "She was a serious card player."
4. Designed for and addressing grave and earnest tastes; such as, serious art; serious music.
5. Not trifling or jesting: "We're serious. We expect you to complete the assignment on time."
6. Of considerable size or scope; substantial: "The city had a cleanup that cost serious money."
7. Of such character or quality as to appeal to the expert, the connoisseur, or the sophisticate: "Every serious kitchen needs at least one freezer."
8. Concerned with important rather than trivial matters.
9. Being of such importance so as to cause anxiety: "She had serious injuries."
10. Too complex to be easily answered or solved: "The governor raised some serious objections to the proposal."
11. In medicine, (of a patient's condition) having unstable or otherwise abnormal vital signs and other unfavorable indicators, as loss of appetite and poor mobility.

1. In a serious manner: "He shook his head seriously."
2. To an alarmingly grave extent: "He is seriously ill."
3. With genuine, earnest intent; sincerely: "Seriously, Jimmy, we have to get home before dark."

1. An earnest and sincere feeling; earnestness, sincerity.
2. The quality of arousing fear or distress; distressfulness.
3. The trait of being serious; serious-mindedness, earnestness, sincerity.
4. Gravity of manner or of mind; solemnity: "He spoke with with an air of seriousness."

1. Slang for serious or seriousness: "We must consider the serosity of the situation."
2. Bureaucratic language: A growing number and volume of imagined consequences driving a decision or demand for hasty action.