INFORMAL
Dictionary entry overview: What does informal mean?
• INFORMAL (adjective)
The adjective INFORMAL has 4 senses:
1. not formal
2. not officially recognized or controlled
3. used of spoken and written language
4. having or fostering a warm or friendly and informal atmosphere
Familiarity information: INFORMAL used as an adjective is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
• INFORMAL (adjective)
Meaning:
Not formal
Context examples:
conservative people unaccustomed to informal dress / an informal free-and-easy manner / an informal gathering of friends
Similar:
casual; everyday (suited for everyday use)
casual; free-and-easy (natural and unstudied)
folksy (very informal and familiar)
unceremonial; unceremonious (without ceremony or formality)
Also:
informal (used of spoken and written language)
Attribute:
formality; formalness (a manner that strictly observes all forms and ceremonies)
Antonym:
formal (being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements (as e.g. of formal dress))
Meaning:
Not officially recognized or controlled
Synonyms:
informal; loose
Context examples:
an informal agreement / a loose organization of the local farmers
Similar:
unofficial (not having official authority or sanction)
Meaning:
Used of spoken and written language
Similar:
nonliterary; unliterary (marked by lack of affectation or pedantry)
subliterary (not written as or intended to be literature)
slangy (constituting or expressed in slang or given to the use of slang)
epistolary; epistolatory (written in the form of or carried on by letters or correspondence)
common; vernacular; vulgar (being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language)
colloquial; conversational (characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation)
Also:
informal (not formal)
unrhetorical (not rhetorical)
Attribute:
formality; formalness (a manner that strictly observes all forms and ceremonies)
Antonym:
formal ((of spoken and written language) adhering to traditional standards of correctness and without casual, contracted, and colloquial forms)
Meaning:
Having or fostering a warm or friendly and informal atmosphere
Synonyms:
cozy; intimate; informal
Context examples:
had a cozy chat / a relaxed informal manner / an intimate cocktail lounge / the small room was cozy and intimate
Similar:
friendly (characteristic of or befitting a friend)
