| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | quiet, serious |
| Synonyms: | austere, brooding, cold sober, deliberate, dignified, downbeat, earnest, funereal, glum, grave, heavy, intense, matter of life and death, moody, no fooling, no-nonsense, pensive, portentous, reflective, sedate, sober, somber, staid, stern, thoughtful, weighty |
| Antonyms: | frivolous, funny, laughing, light |
| Main Entry: | austere |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | severe in manner |
| Synonyms: | ascetic, astringent, cold, earnest, exacting, forbidding, formal, grave, grim, hard, harsh, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, rigid, rigorous, serious, sober, solemn, somber, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, unfeeling, unrelenting |
| Antonyms: | bland, calm, gentle, meek, mild |
| Main Entry: | ceremonial |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | ritual, formal |
| Synonyms: | august, conventional, imposing, liturgical, lofty, mannered, ritualistic, solemn, stately, studied, stylized |
| Notes: | ceremonial is more often applied to things (clothing, etc.) and ceremonious is used for persons and things (occasion, venue) |
| Antonyms: | informal, unceremonial |
| Main Entry: | ceremonious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | ritual, formal |
| Synonyms: | civil, courteous, courtly, decorous, deferential, dignified, exact, grandiose, impressive, majestic, moving, precise, proper, punctilious, seemly, solemn, starchy, stately, stiff, striking |
| Antonyms: | informal, relaxed, unceremonious, unobserved |
| Main Entry: | conventional |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | unoriginal |
| Synonyms: | bigoted, bourgeois, commonplace, conforming, conservative, demure, doctrinal, dogmatic, drippy, hackneyed, hidebound, humdrum, illiberal, in rut, inflexible, insular, isolationist, lame, literal, moderate, moral, narrow, narrow-minded, not heretical, obstinate, parochial, pedestrian, prosaic, puritanical, rigid, routine, rube, run-of-the-mill, sober, solemn, square, stereotyped, straight, straight-laced, strict, stuffy, uptight |
| Antonyms: | different, exotic, foreign, new, original, strange, unique |
| Main Entry: | demure |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | reserved, affected |
| Synonyms: | backward, bashful, blushing, close, coy, decorous, diffident, earnest, humble, modest, nice, prim, prissy, proper, prudish, reticent, retiring, sedate, serious, shy, silent, skittish, sober, solemn, staid, strait-laced, timid, unassertive, unassuming, unassured |
| Antonyms: | aggressive, bold, extroverted, outgoing, shameless, strong |
| Main Entry: | dignified |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | honorable |
| Synonyms: | aristocratic, august, courtly, decorous, distinguished, distingué, eminent, formal, grand, grave, great, highbrow, highfalutin', imperial, imperious, lofty, magisterial, magnificent, nifty*, noble, proud, refined, regal, reserved, respected, solemn, somber, stately, superior, upright |
| Antonyms: | dishonorable, indecorous, undignified |
| Main Entry: | earnest |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | serious; very important |
| Synonyms: | close, constant, determined, firm, fixed, for real, grave, intent, mean business, meaningful, no-fooling, no-nonsense, playing hard ball, resolute, resolved, sedate, sincere, sober, solemn, somber, stable, staid, steady, thoughtful, weighty |
| Antonyms: | flippant, insincere, thoughtless, trivial, unimportant, unserious |
| Main Entry: | emphatic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | insistent, unequivocal |
| Synonyms: | absolute, accented, assertive, assured, categorical, certain, cogent, confident, decided, definite, definitive, determined, direct, distinct, dogmatic, dynamic, earnest, energetic, explicit, express, flat, for a face, forceful, forcible, important, impressive, marked, momentous, no mistake, pointed, positive, potent, powerful, pronounced, resounding, significant, sober, solemn, stressed, striking, strong, sure, telling, trenchant, unmistakable, vigorous |
| Antonyms: | equivocal, indefinite, indistinct, insignificant, reserved, understated, unpronounced |