mean business
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To be serious and determined in one's intentions or actions
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
được nghiêm túc và quyết tâm trong ý định hoặc hành động
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: intend to do something forcefully
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
A principle I have always applied in the property business is that you put in a bid that you think something is worth, and you don't go above it.
Although this might appear unfriendly — and is also a gesture of warning to other males — the female will usually stand her ground, letting the male know she means serious business.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “mean business” mean?
To be serious and determined in one's intentions or actions Literally: intend to do something forcefully
Is “mean business” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.