take (someone or something) seriously
idiom
: to treat (someone or something) as being very important and deserving attention or respect
He takes his religious faith seriously.
She's well qualified for the job, so she hopes the company will take her seriously.
His parents threatened to punish him, but he didn't take them seriously, since he had not been punished before.
Most politicians take themselves too seriously.
Examples of take (someone or something) seriously in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
To read Frost is to wonder which parts of a poem to take seriously—and to sense his presence over your shoulder, laughing at your mistakes.
—
Maggie Doherty, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
Few in Moscow seem to take seriously Mr. Trump’s startling rhetoric about a possible U.S. annexation of Greenland, the Panama Canal, and maybe even Canada.
—Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Jan. 2025
Which means there’s a fourth SEC team to take seriously as an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed.
—Joe Rexrode, The Athletic, 8 Feb. 2025
And government officials similarly do not take seriously the possibility that such statements might have unintended consequences or inflict actual costs.
—Brandon J. Kinne, The Conversation, 14 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for take (someone or something) seriously
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Maggie Doherty, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
Few in Moscow seem to take seriously Mr. Trump’s startling rhetoric about a possible U.S. annexation of Greenland, the Panama Canal, and maybe even Canada.
—Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Jan. 2025
Which means there’s a fourth SEC team to take seriously as an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed.
—Joe Rexrode, The Athletic, 8 Feb. 2025
And government officials similarly do not take seriously the possibility that such statements might have unintended consequences or inflict actual costs.
—Brandon J. Kinne, The Conversation, 14 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for take (someone or something) seriously
Cite this Entry
“Take (someone or something) seriously.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/take%20%28someone%20or%20something%29%20seriously. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.
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