Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

serious

UK /ˈsɪə̯.ɹi.əs/ · US /ˈsɪɚ.i.əs/ adjective, adverb

  1. adjective Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition. “deadly serious”
  2. adjective Important; weighty; not insignificant. “This is a serious problem. We'll need our best experts.”
  3. adjective Really intending what is said (or planned, etc); in earnest; not jocular or deceiving. “After all these years, we're finally getting serious attention.”
  4. adjective (of a relationship) Committed.
  5. adverb (colloquial or dialect) seriously, in a serious manner (most often heard in take or mean serious)

Synonyms

earnest solemn desperate austere frightful demure grave grievous lack-laughter thoughtful sad sage saturnine sedate solemncholy sober somber sombre staid stern dangerous severe life-threatening good unplayful

Antonyms

trifling unimportant jesting gaudy witty frivolous

Etymology

From Middle English seryows, from Old French serieux, from Medieval Latin sēriōsus, an extension of Latin sērius (“grave, earnest, serious”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“heavy”). (If this root is correct, cognate with German schwer (“heavy, difficult, severe”), Old English swǣr (“heavy, grave, grievous”). More at swear, sweer. However, see sērius for an alternative derivation of the Latin.)

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Grave in manner or disposition; earnest; thoughtful; solemn; not light, gay, or volatile.
  2. adjective Really intending what is said; being in earnest; not jesting or deceiving. Beaconsfield.

Etymology [L. serius: cf. F. sérieux, LL. seriosus.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “serious”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “serious” (best matches first).