semiserious

[ sem-ee-seer-ee-uhs, sem-ahy- ]

adjective

1. having some seriousness; partly serious.

Other Words From

• semi·seri·ous·ly adverb
• semi·seri·ous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of semiserious¹

semi- + serious

Example Sentences

That’s why, if you’ve got a serious home-theater system — or even a semiserious one with three or more components — a universal remote control is an amazing device to own.

From Seattle Times

Walter Bernstein, 101, a scriptwriter who was blacklisted in the 1950s for his Communist Party membership and who two decades later skewered the McCarthy era in “The Front,” a film that starred Woody Allen in a rare semiserious role and earned an Oscar nomination for best screenplay, died Jan. 23 at home in Manhattan.

From Seattle Times

Baldessari’s semiserious, stamp-printed jest surreptitiously bumped aside the Cubist painter being named.

From Los Angeles Times

Is this a dramatic, semiserious argument that is mostly underlining the point that something out of the ordinary needs to be done?

From Slate

I promised to go in on this adorable, childlike 50-year-old and I was semiserious.

From Slate