seriously
advUK /ˈsɪə.ɹi.əs.li/ · US /ˈsɪɹ.i.əs.li/
Etymology From Middle English seriously, sereously, ceryously, seryowslech (“earnestly”), equivalent to serious + -ly.
1
Manner In a serious or literal manner.
- He was hoping that we would take him seriously.
- Jimmy jokingly called Bob a doofus. Bob took the insult seriously.
3 more examples
- “I’ll qualify the statement, then,” she answered, with a laugh. “We have known each other for two ages—hers and mine. But seriously we are as dear to each other as sisters, and now that I am going to lose her I am almost heartbroken.”1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 101:
- Masters and Johnson wanted their work to be taken seriously, and wanted to stay a step ahead of the morality police, so they tended to write in almost comically dense medicalese.2009 June 26, Dwight Garner, “Out of the Bedroom, Into the Clinic”, in The New York Times:
- Jeremy, meanwhile, was the fun-lover, like me, who didn't always take it too seriously.2015, Christopher Biggins, Biggins - My Story:
2
Gravely; deeply; very much.
- That was a seriously unpleasant thing to say.
3
Used to attempt to introduce a serious point in a less serious conversation.
- Now, seriously, why did you forget to feed the cat today?
4
Used to call back to a previous point, in disbelief or for emphasis.
- You baked ten (10) cakes. Seriously, why did you do that?
5
Informal In an extreme or major way; majorly.
- Unless you're seriously strapped (armed), you're about to be not okay too.
- Derived terms
- but seriously folks, sinseriously, srsly, take seriously