Meaning of 严重
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- grave; serious; severe; critical
How to use 严重
严重 describes problems, illnesses, damage, or mistakes that are bad in degree. It often appears before nouns or as a predicate with 很 or 非常, and it can also modify verbs with 地. Example: 他的病很严重。(Tā de bìng hěn yánzhòng.) His illness is very serious.
Think of 严 (yán) as strict and 重 (zhòng) as heavy. When something is strict and heavy at the same time, the situation is 严重 (yánzhòng), serious or severe.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 严重 to mean serious in the sense of a serious person or attitude. For that, use 认真 (rènzhēn) or 严肃 (yánsù), since 严重 is only for bad situations. Also keep the reading of 重 as zhòng here, not chóng as in 重新 (chóngxīn).
严重 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
严 yán · tight · 7 strokes
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重 zhòng · heavy · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 严重.
| 重要 | zhòngyào | important; significant; major |
| 重新 | chóngxīn | again; once more; re- |
| 重复 | chóngfù | to repeat; to duplicate |
| 重点 | zhòngdiǎn | to recount (e.g. results of election); to re-evaluate |
| 重视 | zhòngshì | to attach importance to sth; to value |
| 重大 | zhòngdà | great; important |
| 严格 | yángé | strict; stringent; tight; rigorous |
| 重量 | zhòngliàng | weight |
| 体重 | tǐzhòng | body weight |
| 沉重 | chénzhòng | heavy; hard |
| 尊重 | zūnzhòng | to esteem; to respect |
| 严肃 | yánsù | (of an atmosphere etc) solemn; grave; serious; (of a manner etc) earnest; severe; exacting |
Questions about 严重
What does 严重 mean?
严重 (yánzhòng) means "grave; serious; severe; critical" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 严重?
严重 is made of 2 characters: 严 (7 strokes), 重 (9 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.
Is 严重 an HSK word?
Yes. 严重 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 严重 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 严重 is written 嚴重.
What is the difference between 严重 and 重要?
严重 (yánzhòng) means a bad thing is severe, like a serious accident. 重要 (zhòngyào) means something matters or is important, and it can be positive or neutral.
Can 严重 be used with verbs?
Yes. It can act like an adverb with 地, as in 严重地影响 (yánzhòng de yǐngxiǎng), to seriously affect. In everyday speech the 地 is often dropped, as in 严重影响 (yánzhòng yǐngxiǎng).