Schwerwiegender

Schwerwiegender is the comparative form of the German adjective schwerwiegend, which means serious, grave, or weighty. Schwerwiegend describes something with significant importance or consequence, and the positive form is schwerwiegend. The comparative schwerwiegender is used to indicate that one thing is more serious or severe than another, while the superlative is am schwerwiegendsten (or schwerwiegendsten in plural forms).

Usage notes: Schwerwiegender appears primarily in formal or semi-formal language, including legal, political, medical, and journalistic contexts, but it also occurs in everyday speech. It conveys a stronger sense of impact or significance than synonyms like ernst or bedeutend. The word can modify nouns in attributive position (eine schwerwiegende Entscheidung, schwerwiegende Folgen) and can appear in predicate constructions (Die Folgen sind schwerwiegender als erwartet).

Examples:

- Die Entscheidung hat schwerwiegendere Folgen als erwartet.

- Es bestehen schwerwiegendere Vorwürfe gegen den Angeklagten.

- Ursachen für die Verzögerung sind schwerwiegender Natur.

Semantic nuance: Schwerwiegender implies not only being serious, but also having more serious consequences, moral weight, or legal importance relative to another reference point. While it overlaps with terms like gravierend or wesentlich, schwerwiegend emphasizes severity and impact in a comparative sense.