seriously

Universal Words adverb 1 in a serious way: to be seriously ill / injured * You're not seriously expecting me to believe that? * They are seriously concerned about security. * Smoking can seriously damage your health. 2 (spoken) used at the beginning of a sentence to show a change from joking to being more serious: Seriously though, it could be really dangerous. 3 (informal) very; extremely: They're seriously rich. IDIOMS take sb/sth seriously to think that sb/sth is important and deserves your attention and respect: We take threats of this kind very seriously. * Why can't you ever take anything seriously? * Headaches in young children should always be taken seriously. * You can't take anything she says very seriously.