How to Use serious in a Sentence

serious

adjective
  • The team is a serious contender for the championship.
  • If you want to quit smoking, you have to make a serious effort.
  • Dog shows are a serious business.
  • For my brother, not going to college was a serious mistake.
  • Crime is a serious problem in this neighborhood.
  • The story raises serious questions about our system of justice.
  • They had a serious conversation about their relationship.
  • She is a serious cyclist who rides 200 miles each week.
  • While the themes may be corny, the fundraising is serious.
    Beth Thames, al, 18 Jan. 2023
  • This time, the back soreness doesn’t seem to be serious.
    Jeff Fletcher, Orange County Register, 9 Sep. 2024
  • But she has been struck by two serious seizures since Mya’s been gone.
    Jose R. Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 8 Apr. 2023
  • The boy suffered serious injuries as a result of the fall, Moore says.
    Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 11 Aug. 2023
  • Late hours are amenable to talk, whether serious or silly, and talk is the series’ stock in trade.
    Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2023
  • That said, the pursuit of self-love should not be stressful or too serious.
    Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 24 Dec. 2023
  • Here’s a look at why each horse can and can’t win the Preakness — many serious, a few tongue in cheek and one destined to be right.
    Jason Frakes, The Courier-Journal, 17 May 2023
  • That is, nothing too serious or about what’s been on my mind.
    Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 1 June 2023
  • None of the injuries appeared to be serious, Egan said.
    Mike Mavredakis, Hartford Courant, 1 Dec. 2022
  • The mood of the year might have been serious, but people wanted joyful clothes.
    Mark Holgate, Vogue, 15 Dec. 2022
  • That slip can result in a chainsaw gash, which is serious any time of year.
    Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 18 Jan. 2023
  • That's more than enough to do some serious damage to humans who cross their paths.
    Steve Gardner, USA TODAY, 12 June 2023
  • But that was before Trump was found guilty of serious crimes by a New York jury.
    Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune, 6 June 2024
  • By 1912 the building was in serious need of repairs, leading some mothers of students to protest to the school board.
    Richard Selcer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Feb. 2024
  • The pair then shares a toast and kiss before discussing more serious matters.
    Stephanie Wenger, Peoplemag, 27 Oct. 2023
  • That’s too bad, because the new Trump term will need serious pushback.
    Steven Greenhut, Orange County Register, 15 Nov. 2024
  • If convicted, Santos faces up to 20 years in prison for the most serious charges.
    Scott MacFarlane, CBS News, 9 June 2023
  • But serious obstacles stand in the way of any prospective deal.
    Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 11 Aug. 2023
  • Before the serious discussion — which did end in an agreement — the Carters and Kim took a cruise down a river.
    Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post, 20 Nov. 2023
  • Flowers: Pretty much just a very serious kind of solemn face.
    Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Dec. 2023
  • Here, the full output launched the Rally hard enough to press me back in the seat and elicit some grins, but the all-wheel-drive system still exhibited a serious tendency toward understeer.
    Michael Teo Van Runkle, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
  • The condition can lead to serious complications, such as bowel perforation (a hole in the wall of the intestine) and toxic megacolon (inflammation spreading to the deep tissue layers of the colon).
    Lindsay Curtis, Health, 31 Dec. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'serious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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