SERIOUS-MINDED Synonyms: 49 Similar and Opposite Words

serious-minded

adjective

Definition of serious-minded

as in earnest

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of serious-minded But a bigger problem is that his earnest, hard-working performance can’t help but utilize the same tools now familiar from much less serious-minded contexts. — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 12 Nov. 2025 Gore then spent eight years earning a reputation as a smart, serious-minded governing partner to Clinton. — Time, 3 Nov. 2025 Shane Hollander, the serious-minded captain of the Montreal Meteors, and star and playboy Ilya Rozanov of the Boston Bears are played by Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, respectively. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2025 In this more serious-minded (and Madea-free) movie from Perry, Idris Elba plays Monty, a hard-working father who loses custody of his daughters to his drug-addled wife (Tasha Smith). — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for serious-minded

Recent Examples of Synonyms for serious-minded

Adjective

The singer’s prolific career as a teen and young star was a bit of a balancing act, juggling acting and an earnest pop career, and balance seems to be a theme of the new tour as well.

— Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 11 July 2026
Once the story gathers everyone into the house and lets the mayhem start in earnest, an overall feeling of Gothic grimness and rotting-corpse griminess takes hold.

— David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 July 2026

Definition of earnest

Adjective

Surrounding areas are under a very serious Level 3 of 4 risk.

— Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 15 July 2026
However, the area does have serious needs for infrastructure improvement, such as addressing flooding that has long affected neighborhoods like Argentine during rainy times of year.

— Sofi Zeman July 14, Kansas City Star, 14 July 2026

Definition of serious

Adjective

After being a key to the victory of the Trojan War, Greek hero Odysseus (Matt Damon) goes to hell and back trying to get home to his wife (Anne Hathaway) and son (Tom Holland) in Nolan's brutal yet introspective adaptation of Homer's epic poem.

— Brian Truitt, USA Today, 17 July 2026
If anything, ages 14 through 19 were probably some of the most introspective times of my life.

— Adam Messinger, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026

Definition of introspective

Adjective

The contrast of Mariama’s experience makes Stella’s life look practically as somber and sordid as a film noir, where no one can be trusted and tragedy lurks from all sides.

— Elena Lazic, Variety, 15 July 2026
This somber Australian chiller, done in an exceptionally authentic faux-doc style, follows a family trying to piece together unexplainable supernatural events in the aftermath of their daughter’s tragic, seemingly accidental death.

— Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 July 2026

Definition of somber

Adjective

In both the novel and its film adaptation, the scriptorium is portrayed as a solemn place where writing is a mechanical, joyless labor.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 July 2026
But the challenge has remained over the decades for popes that the threat of schism, or a rupture within the church, might lurk behind a preference for a more solemn liturgy.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 July 2026

Definition of solemn

Adjective

For more sedate vibes, there’s a library with around 2,000 titles.

— Fran Golden, Travel + Leisure, 7 July 2026
But the book’s ruminative watchfulness is unsuccessfully conjugated in this overly sedate play with music, which has the feel of a song cycle, though sung by the fine cast with gorgeous, lonely sorrow.

— Brian Seibert, New Yorker, 19 June 2026

Definition of sedate

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serious-minded

serious-mindedness

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“Serious-minded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serious-minded. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of serious-minded

adjective

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