to consider a person, subject, or situation to be important or dangerous and worth your attention or respect

The police have to take any terrorist threat seriously. 警方必须认真对待任何恐怖分子的威胁。

You don't take anything seriously, do you? It's all one big joke to you. 你拿什么事都不当真，是吗？对你来说，什么都是儿戏。

She's sick of being seen as a sex symbol and wants to be taken seriously as an actress. 她讨厌被人当成性感偶像，想让人认真地把她当成女演员。

These young actors take themselves so seriously! 这些年轻演员太把自己当回事了！

Why did it take so long for governments across the world to take climate change seriously?

See also: seriously (NEEDING ATTENTION)