serious

/ˈsɪə̯.ɹi.əs/

//ˈsɪə̯.ɹi.əs// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"serious" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“serious” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #836. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#836
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition.

Corpus desk

Index EN-serious · serious · English

serious · rank #836 · 9 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #836
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH related

Nearest frequency peer: related (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “serious”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “serious” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

serious vs Sirius
57% similar
serious vs Sermons
57% similar
serious vs spurious
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for serious
PropertyValue
Headwordserious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈsɪə̯.ɹi.əs/
Letters7
Frequency rank#836
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “serious” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). serious lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around serious (IPA /ˈsɪə̯.ɹi.əs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #836 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for serious, with forms such as "esrious", "seirous", and "seriosu". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "Sirius", "Sermons", "spurious", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English seryows, from Old French serieux, from Medieval Latin sēriōsus, an extension of Latin sērius (“grave, earnest, serious”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“heavy”). Cognate with German schwer (“heavy, difficult, severe”), Old English swǣ… The correct English form is serious, spelled S-E-R-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition.
  2. 2
    Important; weighty; not insignificant.
  3. 3
    Really intending what is said (or planned, etc); in earnest; not jocular or deceiving.
  4. 4
    Committed.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how serious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. deadly serious
  2. It was a surprise to see the captain, who had always seemed so serious, laugh so heartily.

Etymology

From Middle English seryows, from Old French serieux, from Medieval Latin sēriōsus, an extension of Latin sērius (“grave, earnest, serious”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“heavy”). Cognate with German schwer (“heavy, difficult, severe”), Old English swǣr (“heavy, grave, grievous”). More at swear, sweer.

Synonyms

austerefrightfuldemureseriousgraveearnestgrievouslack-laughterthoughtfulsadsagesaturninesedatesolemnsolemncholysobersombersombrestaidsternsweerweightsomeweighty

Antonyms

triflingunimportantjestinggaudywitty

This word in other languages

serio(Español)sérieux(Français)ernst(Deutsch)sério(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • esrious
  • seirous
  • seriosu
  • seriouss
  • seriuos
  • seroius
  • serrious
  • sreious
  • sserious

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of serious - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

esrious2seirous2seriosu2seriouss1seriuos2seroius2serrious1sreious2
Edit distance from "serious"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "serious"?
"serious" is spelled S-E-R-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɪə̯.ɹi.əs/.
What does "serious" mean?
As an adjective, "serious" means: Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition.
What words are commonly confused with "serious"?
"serious" is commonly confused with "Sirius", "Sermons", "spurious". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "serious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "serious" is /ˈsɪə̯.ɹi.əs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "serious"?
From Middle English seryows, from Old French serieux, from Medieval Latin sēriōsus, an extension of Latin sērius (“grave, earnest, serious”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“heavy”). Cognate with German schwer (“heavy, difficult, severe”), Old E... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "serious", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

related#835article#841decided#846amazing#821

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

itself9 variantsrelease9 variantsturned9 variantswritten9 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "serious". Here's where to go from here.

  • "serious" maps to 5 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Sirius". View pair
  • 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #836 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list