seriously vs softly

seriously

adv
  • Used to attempt to introduce a serious point in a less serious conversation. 

  • In a serious or literal manner. 

  • In an extreme or major way; majorly 

  • Used to call back to a previous point, in disbelief or for emphasis. 

  • Gravely; deeply; very much. 

softly

adv
  • In a soft manner; gently. 

  • Not loudly; nearly inaudibly. 

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