casual
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkaʒ(uː)əl/
ipa: /ˈkaʒjuːəl/
ipa: /ˈkazjuːəl/
ipa: /ˈkæʒ(u)əl/
ipa: /ˈkæʒwəl/
ipa: /ˈkɛʒ(ʉː)əl/
ipa: /-uːæl/
Forms: form: more casual
form: most casual
form: casuall
form: cazh
Etymology: From Middle French casuel, from Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”) (whence English cadence).
Senses: examples: text: They only had casual meetings.
text: casual breaks, in the general system
ref: 1819 June 23 – 1820 September 13, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “(please specify the title)”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC:
synonyms: word: accidental
word: fortuitous
word: incidental
word: occasional
word: random
word: accidental
word: accidentary
word: adventitious
word: by accident
word: by the by
word: casual
word: causeless
word: chanceable
word: fortuitous
word: incidental
word: lippening
word: occasional
word: random
word: serendipitous
word: unforeseen
word: unintended
word: unintentional
word: unplanned
antonyms: inevitable
necessary
glosses: Happening by chance.
examples: text: The purchase of donuts was just a casual expense.
text: a constant habit, rather than a casual gesture
ref: 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 9, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
synonyms: ad hoc
glosses: Coming without regularity; occasional or incidental.
examples: text: He was just a casual worker.
text: This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
glosses: Employed irregularly.
examples: text: I removed my jacket and threw it casually over the back of the settee.
ref: 2007, Nick Holland, The Girl on the Bus, page 117:
synonyms: word: easygoing
word: unconcerned
word: airy
word: at ease
word: at peace
word: carefree
word: careless
word: casual
word: chill
word: cool
word: devil-may-care
word: easy-breezy
word: easygoing
word: happy-go-lucky
word: indifferent
word: insouciant
word: laid-back
word: leisurely
word: lighthearted
word: loose
word: mellow
word: nonchalant
word: pococurante
word: relaxed
word: serene
word: solute
word: tranquil
word: unanxious
word: unbothered
word: unconcerned
word: undisturbed
word: unruffled
word: untroubled
word: unworried
word: wanton
glosses: Careless.
examples: text: It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
text: Hogan assumed the entire creek bed was to be played as a casual hazard, moved his ball out and assessed himself a one-stroke penalty.
ref: 2012, Jeff Miller, Grown at Glen Garden: Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, and the Little Texas Golf Course that Propelled Them to Stardom:
synonyms: word: unexpected
word: unplanned
word: ad lib
word: extemporal
word: extemporary
word: extemporaneous
word: extempore
word: extemporized
word: impromptu
word: improvised
word: improviso
word: off-the-cuff
word: offhand
word: spur-of-the-moment
antonyms: expected
scheduled
glosses: Happening or coming to pass without design.
examples: text: tone in casual interactions
synonyms: colloquial
antonyms: strict
formal
official
qualifier: usage; or milieu; usage; or milieu
glosses: Informal; relaxed.
raw_tags: of behavior
examples: text: pants in the casual wear collection
synonyms: cas
informal
antonyms: ceremonial
formal
regulation
glosses: Designed for informal or everyday use.
raw_tags: of clothing or utensils
Derived terms: business casual
casual alien
casual Friday
casual gaming
casualisation
casualism
casualist
casualization
casualize
casually
casualness
casual sex
casualty
casual ward
casual water
casualwear
decasualize
fast casual
filthy casual
fine casual
hypercasual
noncasual
overcasual
semicasual
smart casual
ultracasual
uncasual