serious vs vital

serious

adj
  • Important; weighty; not insignificant 

  • Committed. 

  • Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition 

  • Really intending what is said (or planned, etc); in earnest; not jocular or deceiving 

adv
  • In a serious manner; seriously. 

vital

adj
  • Very important. 

  • Invigorating or life-giving. 

  • Containing life; living. 

  • Necessary to continued existence. 

  • Necessary to the continuation of life; being the seat of life; being that on which life depends. 

  • Capable of living; in a state to live; viable. 

  • Relating to the recording of life events. 

  • Relating to, or characteristic of life. 

How often have the words serious and vital occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )