casual adjective - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of casual adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

casual

adjective
 
 
/ˈkæʒuəl/
 
/ˈkæʒuəl/
jump to other results

    not formal

  1.  
    not formal
    • casual clothes (= comfortable clothes that you choose to wear in your free time)
    • family parties and other casual occasions
    see also fast-casual
    Extra Examples
    • She felt comfortable in casual clothes and wore them most of the time.
    • a casual shirt/​jacket
    • casual pants/​trousers
    • casual shoes
    • Despite his casual dress of jeans and shirt, there was still an air of sophistication about him.
    Topics Clothes and Fashionb2

    2. without care/attention

  2.  
    [usually before noun] not showing much care or thought; seeming not to be worried; not wanting to show that something is important to you
    • a casual manner
    • It was just a casual remark—I wasn't really serious.
    • He tried to sound casual, but I knew he was worried.
    • They have a casual attitude towards safety (= they don't care enough).
    Extra Examples
    • She sounded almost casual.
    • There was something a little too carefully casual in his tone.
    • She seemed just too casual about the whole thing.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • appear
    • be
    • sound
    • …
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    • …
    preposition
    • about
    See full entry
  3.  
    [usually before noun] without paying attention to detail
    • At a casual glance, everything seemed normal.
    • It's obvious even to the casual observer.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • appear
    • be
    • sound
    • …
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    • …
    preposition
    • about
    See full entry
    4.

    work

  4.  
    [usually before noun] not permanent; not done, or doing something regularly
    • casual workers/labour
    • Students sometimes do casual work in the tourist trade.
    • They are employed on a casual basis (= they do not have a permanent job with the company).
    Topics Jobsc1

    5. relationship

  5.  
    [usually before noun] without deep feelings
    • a casual acquaintance
    • a casual friendship
    • to have casual sex (= to have sex without having a steady relationship with that partner)
    6.

    by chance

  6.  
    [only before noun] happening by chance; doing something by chance
    • a casual encounter/meeting
    • a casual passer-by
    • The exhibition is interesting to both the enthusiast and the casual visitor.
    • The disease is not spread by casual contact.
    7. Word Originlate Middle English (in senses 4 to 6 of the adjective): from Old French casuel and Latin casualis, from casus ‘fall’.
See casual in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee casual in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: casual

Nearby words

perfectly
adverb
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 3000
B1
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day