In a serious way, without joking or playing. It can also be used informally to show strong feeling, like surprise, annoyance, or emphasis.
Formed from 'serious' + the adverbial suffix '-ly'. The base adjective comes from Latin 'serius' meaning 'earnest, grave'.
In modern speech, 'seriously?' has become a one-word reaction that can mean 'are you joking?', 'I’m annoyed', or 'I’m impressed', depending on tone. It’s a good example of how an adverb drifted into a whole emotional toolkit.
Requests to be taken 'seriously' have often been denied to women, racialized groups, and queer people, whose reports and expertise were doubted. Conversely, 'talking seriously' has sometimes been reserved for male-dominated spaces, excluding others.
Use 'seriously' to refer to the weight of issues or arguments, and avoid patterns where concerns raised more often by women or marginalized groups are routinely not taken seriously.
["with care","with appropriate weight","in depth"]
When recounting historical debates, note whose voices were not taken seriously at the time and how that shaped outcomes.
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