SERIOUSLY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does seriously mean? 

• SERIOUSLY (adverb)
  The adverb SERIOUSLY has 2 senses:

1. in a serious manner

2. to a severe or serious degree

  Familiarity information: SERIOUSLY used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SERIOUSLY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

In a serious manner

Synonyms:

earnestly; in earnest; seriously

Context example:

a play dealing seriously with the question of divorce

Pertainym:

serious (concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To a severe or serious degree

Synonyms:

badly; gravely; seriously; severely

Context example:

was seriously ill

Pertainym:

serious (causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm)

 Context examples 

Oh! Not seriously! Aye, and sadly too—for I had much rather stay.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

But Mr. Enfield only nodded his head very seriously, and walked on once more in silence.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

His bright proud eye spoke the conviction that he was nice; and Anne Elliot was not out of his thoughts, when he more seriously described the woman he should wish to meet with.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Without pain, you might seriously hurt yourself without knowing it, or you might not realize you have a medical problem that needs treatment.

(Pain, NIH)

Couples that have been seriously dating will grow even closer now and may become engaged before the year’s end.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

They were all very seriously frightened.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

"The men in green all forsook England a hundred years ago," said I, speaking as seriously as he had done.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

To my surprise, she took it very seriously, and begged me if any more came to let her see them.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We both laughed, and then went seriously to work constructing the plan whereby we were to step the masts of the Ghost and return to the world.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"And me out of a job," Joe answered seriously.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)