seriouslyse‧ri‧ous‧ly /ˈsɪəriəsli $ ˈsɪr-/ ●●● S2 W2 adverb 
Was she seriously hurt? I’m seriously worried about Ben. Something was seriously wrong.2 a)in a way that is not joking, especially because something is important: It’s time we talked seriously about our relationship. b)[sentence adverb] spoken used to show that what you say next is not a joke: Seriously though, I think Toby likes you.3take somebody/something seriously to believe that someone or something is worth your attention or respect: As a teacher, it’s important that the kids take you seriously. It’s only a joke – don’t take it seriously!4seriously? spoken used to ask someone if they really mean what they have just said: ‘The job’s yours.’ ‘Seriously?’COLLOCATIONSadjectivesseriously ill· Her mother is seriously ill in hospital.seriously/injured/hurt/wounded· He was seriously injured in a car accident on Friday.seriously damaged· His reputation had been seriously damaged.seriously affected· A number of bird sanctuaries were seriously affected by the oil spill.seriously flawed (=having a bad weakness or fault)· From the outset, this project was seriously flawed.seriously wrong· I was worried there was something seriously wrong with me.seriously worried· Hazel was now seriously worried.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Seriously, though, are you going to see her again?
- Allow me to speak seriously for a moment.
- Are you seriously suggesting that she should give up her job in order to look after her husband?
- My plan is to train seriously from January to July.
- She was talking about children's social education at a time when no one else was seriously concerned with it.
- There was something seriously wrong.
- They started dating seriously about 8 months ago.
- Those who seriously attempt to kill themselves usually manage to do so.
- And like all craftsmen, they were not always taken seriously by the intellectually fashionable people of their times.
- And they take every second of opportunity seriously.
- Another 1, 500 children each year are seriously injured by unlocked handguns.
- It doesn't deserve to be taken seriously.
- It was just a funny number that no one takes seriously, except the workers.
- Nationalists in Moldavia fought police and troops late yesterday and unofficial reports said dozens of people were injured, some seriously.
- She had not at first taken it seriously.
- They weren't taking it seriously.
Longman Language Activatorto have a bad effect
· The drug can have a serious effect on the body's immune system.have a devastating/disastrous effect (=have an extremely bad effect) · The war is having a devastating effect on people's lives.
to have a bad effect on someone or something: · Late nights and lack of sleep can seriously affect your performance at work.· Rescue officials have gone to three villages badly affected by the earthquakes.
to have a bad effect on someone or something: · Changing schools too often can be bad for a child's social development.it's bad for somebody to do something: · I think it's bad for her to spend so much time worrying about him.
to have a serious and harmful effect on something or someone, especially after continuing for a long time: · Years of civil war and drought have taken their toll, and the population of the region is greatly reduced.take a toll/take its toll on: · Bad working conditions eventually take a toll on staff morale.
to have an important and permanent effect on something: · She was only here for a few months, but she certainly left her mark.leave a mark/leave its mark on: · The long dispute has left its mark on the mining industry.
to have a noticeable and often harmful effect on a person or on a situation: tell on: · The strain of living with her violent husband was telling on Judy.start/begin to tell: · The power of the mayor's cronies began to tell as the election drew closer.
to affect something in a way that harms it or makes it worse than it was before: · We need to be assured that the new development will not have a negative impact on the local environment.· Last year's attacks have continued to have a negative impact on the tourist industry this year.
used to tell someone that you are serious, or to ask if someone is serious spoken say this to emphasize that something surprising is really true, or to ask whether something surprising is really true: really?/seriously?: · "She's quit her job. "Seriously?''· "It took three hours to travel ten miles, the traffic was so bad.'' "Really? You must be exhausted.''
especially American, spoken say this when you think other people will not believe that you are telling the truth, or to ask if someone is joking because what they say does not seem true: · I'm telling you, this guy's as fast as Carl Lewis -- no kidding!· "She's getting married again." "No kidding?"
spoken say this when you are telling someone about something that will be hard for them to believe: · He asked me, in all seriousness, if I would marry him next week.· She had heard someone say, in all seriousness, that women would never make good golfers because of the shape of their bodies.
British spoken say this to show that you are now being serious about something, after you and other people have been joking about it: · Joking apart, I do feel somebody should tell him what we think. It's for his own good.
to really mean what you say to really mean what you say or really intend to do something: · Do you think she was serious when she said she used to be an actress?· Listen! I'm serious! I'm not lending you any more money!be serious about: · Tina's quite intelligent, but she's not really serious about her schoolwork.serious about doing something: · I hope Jeff's serious about giving up smoking.get serious about something (=start dealing with a problem in a determined way): · Car manufacturers should get serious about making security a design priority.deadly serious (=extremely serious): · Her voice suddenly sounded deadly serious.be perfectly/absolutely serious (=be serious in a situation where it is hard to believe that someone could be): · "Look!" he said, "I am perfectly serious. I'm willing to give you $10,000 for your land."
if someone means what they say, they are being serious when they say it, and they are not pretending or lying: mean it especially spoken: · I mean it - I'll scream if you don't let me go.· She told me she loved me - but I wasn't sure if she meant it.mean what you say: · I meant what I said, I never want to see you again.
if you say you are not joking , you really mean what you say, even though it seems surprising or unlikely: · There must be about 10 of them in that car - I'm not joking.· She told him she'd call the police if he bothered her again, and she wasn't joking.
if you say or do something seriously , you really mean it, really intend to do it, or really think it is important: · Are you seriously suggesting that she should give up her job in order to look after her husband?seriously intend/want/attempt etc to do something: · Those who seriously attempt to kill themselves usually manage to do so.seriously concerned/interested/worried etc: · She was talking about children's social education at a time when no one else was seriously concerned with it.
spoken if someone means business , it is very clear that they will definitely do what they say or what they are threatening to do: · The man had a gun. It was obvious he meant business.
if someone is in earnest , they really mean what they say, especially when they are saying what they want or what they intend to do: · I'm sure he was in earnest when he said he wanted to marry her.be very much in earnest: · She spoke lightly, but it was obvious that she was very much in earnest.
to believe someone really means what they say to believe that what someone says or does is serious, and worth paying attention to: · Kevin paused for a moment, not sure if Ralph would take him seriously.· He said he was going to build a boat in his back yard, but I didn't take him seriously!
behaving in a serious way if someone says or does something in a serious way, they think that what they are saying or doing is important and should not be joked about: · All the other people in the office seemed to have a very serious attitude towards their work.serious about: · The band are only young, but they're very serious about their music.
to think that something is important, and spend a lot of time and effort on it: · I wish Dan would take his work more seriously.· She certainly takes her politics seriously -- she's always out at meetings.take life seriously (=think that everything in life is very important and serious): · He seemed much older than he was, and took life a little too seriously.
written quiet and very serious, especially because something important or worrying has happened: · Holmes looked grave, and stood deep in worried thought for a minute or two.· His expression became very grave when we told him what had happened.
very serious because of an important or sad occasion or ceremony: · Everyone stood respectfully, and looked solemn throughout the funeral service.· The judge read the verdict in a clear and solemn voice.
British /somber American sad, quiet, and serious because something unpleasant or worrying has happened or is going to happen: · They sat in somber silence.· The sun was shining brightly, but the mood was sombre.
serious and not smiling, because you are angry, upset, or worried about something: · She looked grim and upset, standing silently in the corner.· A grim-faced diplomat read out the declaration of war.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYadjectives Smoking can severely damage your health. The flight was badly delayed because of fog. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. Two people have been critically injured in an accident. These figures are highly misleading. The lake is seriously polluted. I was joking, but he took me seriously. Ben took the news very badly. Our education system is seriously underfunded.
· Her mother is seriously ill in hospital.
· He was seriously injured in a car accident on Friday.
· His reputation had been seriously damaged.
· A number of bird sanctuaries were seriously affected by the oil spill.
(=having a bad weakness or fault)· From the outset, this project was seriously flawed.
· I was worried there was something seriously wrong with me.
· Hazel was now seriously worried.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Smoking can severely damage your health. The flight was badly delayed because of fog. (=very depressed)· He became severely depressed after losing his job.
Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. (=very ill)· Any seriously ill patients are usually sent to a state hospital.
Two people have been critically injured in an accident. These figures are highly misleading.· We seriously overestimated how much confidence he had in himself.
(=very overweight)· Being seriously overweight doubles the risk of heart disease.
· The ward was packed with seriously ill patients.
The lake is seriously polluted. (=very rich)· They stand to become seriously rich if the venture succeeds.
I was joking, but he took me seriously. Ben took the news very badly.· I thought seriously about my doctor’s advice.
Our education system is seriously underfunded.· Hazel was now seriously worried. Why hadn’t he come back?
· Her husband was seriously wounded in the attack.
· The book is a thriller about a diamond robbery that goes badly wrong.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· Becky Blandford, who's still seriously ill more than forty eight hours after a hunting accident.· According to press reports published here over the last few days, Assad has been seriously ill.· Doctors say Mr Crowther is showing some improvement but he's still seriously ill.· Mrs Ormerod fell seriously ill again only days after having been allowed home.· Two, who were most seriously ill with vomiting and other symptoms, were released after a week.· The Empress, who had been seriously ill, died of diabetes soon afterwards.· This can be positively dangerous, if only because such practitioners may not recognise when a person is seriously ill.· The sole survivor, Barry O'Shaughnessy, 19, was seriously ill in hospital last night.
· And by summer 1987 - still a year before Barlow Clowes was closed - it was obvious that something was seriously wrong.· We would call in a specialist and try to find out if there was anything seriously wrong.· What does matter is that something seems seriously wrong with Gaia.· And I think I must conclude that, in spite of the well-established format, something is going seriously wrong here.· Nothing seriously wrong, but she had been sick a lot, slept badly from indigestion, and was disappointed with herself.· They said there'd better be something seriously wrong with me.· It means that we're putting things right when things have gone seriously wrong.
VERB· People with allergies and other respiratory and heart ailments may be more seriously affected.· Migrants from equatorial latitudes to countries with reduced light exposure are seriously affected by these climatic changes.· This avoids the water absorption point and is not too seriously affected by scattering.· In this example, wives are the population most seriously affected by whatever research may be done.· Defining sufficient interest is relatively easy where one or more persons are more seriously affected by a decision than people generally.· The leisure business continues to be once again seriously affected by the recession.· Livestock Livestock farming has been seriously affected by the need to produce so much so quickly.· But the Department of Transport claims the couple will not be seriously affected.
· He became seriously ill shortly after taking his first job in a surveyor's office.· A family whose wage earners are without medical coverage can lose everything when a child becomes seriously ill.· They can lose so much water from the body that they become seriously ill.· Helpless Dear Helpless: First of all stop hitting each other before one of you becomes seriously hurt.· At this time of year, even wrapped-up regions can become seriously dehydrated.· Under Conservative rule civil liberty became seriously eroded.· Its international indebtedness had reached such alarming proportions under the previous Khedive that its Western creditors had become seriously alarmed.· On 16 June 1970 he became seriously ill and died five days later.
· No-one could seriously believe that the king had been a worshipper of the cult.· No one any longer seriously believes that Marie and Eleanor actually did preside over such tribunals.· Do you seriously believe you can pick up with this tenth Gittel where you left off with Number One before?· Do you seriously believe the mutt tastes what it gulps down?· Did he seriously believe that she had set out to break up a woman's marriage?
· Every computer user should seriously consider protecting their system with an uninterrupted power supply.· He seriously considered it in 1992 and very stupidly chose not to run.· If the patient develops early overt congestive heart failure it is contraindicated, but do seriously consider it later.· I started seriously considering the idea.· But the statistics would have to be extremely bad before Mr Lamont seriously considers such a move.· East Lampeter police never seriously considered other suspects.· I seriously considered disembowelling Ian for this, but on reflection that would be a little harsh.· It is a matter to be seriously considered.
· However, the decline in the Tokyo stock market, which has rendered many warrants worthless, may seriously damage the market.· The quake seriously damaged computers at the U.S.· The house was seriously damaged by fire in 1879 but rebuilt largely to the original design.· Neither Bradley nor his school have been seriously damaged by his small act of information sharing.· Treatment can help prevent the infection from seriously damaging the foetus.· Police officials also said 12 patrol cars were seriously damaged in the melee.· If that was now imposed on it, it would very seriously damage its business.· In two days we had had forty-five ships seriously damaged in our slick battalions.
· Mosley was himself quite seriously hurt by a brick at a meeting in Liverpool in 1937.· Unfavorable weather conditions have seriously hurt three of the last four cherry harvests.· Fortunately Diana was not seriously hurt by the fall although she did suffer severe bruising around her stomach.· Fortunately only one legislator was seriously hurt.· I'd been right in thinking that he wasn't seriously hurt, and they soon had him well again.· If both children in these examples were to become flexible caretakers, their parents would be seriously hurt.· His nose had bled and his forehead and face were badly bruised from his fall; but he was not seriously hurt.· It was a miracle none of us was seriously hurt.
· The drivers of both vehicles were taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital for treatment but neither was seriously injured.· And this night, he comes close to getting seriously injured.· No one was seriously injured, but M4 Westbound was closed bringing traffic chaos.· The other wounded person, a waitress, was not injured seriously.· It's one of the most evil weapons that he's seen and could only kill or seriously injure.· The following month a twenty-two-year-old black man was shot and seriously injured by a carload of white men.· His girlfriend, Susan Wormsley, who was seriously injured in the crash is still in hospital.· Their young son had been injured seriously in a terrible traffic accident.
· Instead he was standing with his head on one side, looking seriously at her.· I also promise that the Government will look seriously at all proposals for sensible reform.· She had looked seriously at soft-eyed young men, pierced, as often as not, by arrows.· Basil looked seriously through my work.· But at the moment he looked seriously discomposed, despite Natalia's presence.
· Differences between them are rarely taken seriously.· Voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame is an enormous privilege, and it should be taken seriously by those involved.· She had not taken seriously, because Robert patently hadn't, the original invitation.· But tonics deserve to be taken seriously.· Unfortunately, it's still the case that you have to dress down to be taken seriously.· You can not expect to be taken seriously with a bovine's milking tackle perched on your bonce.· The committee takes seriously the need to be fair and just in everything it does.· Mitch's image alone does not make clear that he will be mocked rather than taken seriously as an object of desire.
· You don't seriously think I'd drive around knowing that my insurance was out of date?· Golden State fans haven't thought seriously about the playoffs in years.· No doubt we should have objected if we had ever seriously thought about action.· Neither of them had thought seriously of fog before June 28.· I seriously thought of crawling through the smoke to the door.· Do any of us seriously think that Michael Parks is going to sleep well for the foreseeable future?· Both were fined by Southampton and boss Ian Branfoot had to think seriously about playing them together.· For your own peace of mind, she told the young woman, you should think seriously about having this baby.
· Many birds, small mammals and fish have become extinct or are seriously threatened.· Indeed, the viability of the Department of Housing and Urban Development has been seriously threatened.· Moktadir, who was seriously threatened by the neighbouring kingdoms of Navarre and Aragon, gladly accepted.· Elias, has been seriously threatened, because of its provocative color.· There are 6 agents within a mile of his shop on the Abingdon Road and another outlet would seriously threaten his business.· With regard to the seriously threatened Engelmann oak in San Diego County, merely saving lane trees is not enough.· Probably more so in fact, for all organisms are more seriously threatened by competition from their own species than from others.· Not until the twentieth century did the increase in population force an uneconomic division of farms and seriously threaten Basque rural prosperity.
· Had the issue been treated seriously lie ought to have been more than usually invulnerable upon it.· All reports must be treated seriously, and confidentially and must be investigated by the employer.· Woman vicar death threat HATE-mail threats to decapitate a leading activist for women priests are being treated seriously by police.· Preliminary enquiries should be treated seriously and the seller's legal representatives should do their best to supply full answers.· However, it was also claimed that feminism and gender issues were not treated seriously by the senior management.· They have to be treated seriously, but yet not inflated, and Ramey achieves that very convincingly.
· The claims of the falsificationist are seriously undermined by the fact that observation statements are theory-dependent and fallible.· Current levels of traffic seriously undermine the quality of life in our cities.· This seriously undermines the capacity of national governments to set ethical boundaries for business.· However, these studies and many others that followed were seriously undermined by some fault or other.· They argue that this will seriously undermine the adoption of the Biosafety Protocol developed under the Convention on Biodiversity.
· The tying of aid for imports has seriously weakened the policy of standardizing equipment.· He knows Clinton will not propose and Congress will not enact legislation to seriously weaken provisions of the new law.· In effect the Unity Campaign was already seriously weakened.· The effect was devastating, seriously weakening Mrs Thatcher's hold on the premiership and making a leadership contest virtually inevitable.· Then, because of their geographical position, they were seriously weakened by the Viking onslaught down the east coast.· Moreover his domestic position was seriously weakened by his obvious lack of success as a diplomat and a military commander.
· Dozens of others were seriously wounded or left permanently disabled.· Her husband, Pedro Castro Tojín, was seriously wounded in the attack.· In the shoot-out one Klansman was killed, and five others were seriously wounded.· A dozen people were seriously wounded.· Oh, General, I hope you are not seriously wounded.· Mr Inaki Esnaola, another of Herri Batasuna's four deputies-elect, was seriously wounded in the attack.· Although most of the ships had been hit, only two pilots were seriously wounded and had to be evacuated.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► seriously?
- Sandy used to take herself so seriously all the time.
- You really take this stuff seriously, don't you?
WORD FAMILYnounseriousnessadjectiveseriousadverbseriously
1very much or to a great degreeseriously ill/injured/damaged etc Was she seriously hurt? I’m seriously worried about Ben. Something was seriously wrong.2 a)in a way that is not joking, especially because something is important: It’s time we talked seriously about our relationship. b)[sentence adverb] spoken used to show that what you say next is not a joke: Seriously though, I think Toby likes you.3take somebody/something seriously to believe that someone or something is worth your attention or respect: As a teacher, it’s important that the kids take you seriously. It’s only a joke – don’t take it seriously!4seriously? spoken used to ask someone if they really mean what they have just said: ‘The job’s yours.’ ‘Seriously?’COLLOCATIONSadjectivesseriously ill· Her mother is seriously ill in hospital.seriously/injured/hurt/wounded· He was seriously injured in a car accident on Friday.seriously damaged· His reputation had been seriously damaged.seriously affected· A number of bird sanctuaries were seriously affected by the oil spill.seriously flawed (=having a bad weakness or fault)· From the outset, this project was seriously flawed.seriously wrong· I was worried there was something seriously wrong with me.seriously worried· Hazel was now seriously worried.