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Synonyms

informality

American  
[in-fawr-mal-i-tee] / ˌɪn fɔrˈmæl ɪ ti /

noun

  • informalities
    plural
  1. the state of being informal; absence of formality.

  2. an informal act.


informality British  
/ ˌɪnfɔːˈmælɪtɪ /

noun

  1. the condition or quality of being informal

  2. an informal act

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns


Etymology

Origin of informality

First recorded in 1590–1600; in- 3 + formality


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

There’s an informality built into the production, but it’s somewhat deceptive because the mercurial staging is extremely precise.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026

He may be regretting the informality, even if he regularly drums home a message that "nothing good happens after midnight".

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

"Resilient growth and stable unemployment figures should not distract us from the deeper reality: hundreds of millions of workers remain trapped in poverty, informality, and exclusion," ILO chief Gilbert Houngbo said in a statement.

From Barron's ● Jan. 14, 2026

But informality and ambiguity remain a feature, not a bug, of China’s approach to coercive economic bargaining.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025

“He was so beautifully dressed...there was no country informality about his attire at all.”

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

These inequities or biases in the substantive laws have over time become routine through the legal formalities and discretionary informalities of the procedural law.

From Salon ● Dec. 8, 2023

Field, now 97, said he and Locklin “shared certain informalities, that poetry shouldn’t be beyond human understanding and feelings.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2021

In the weeks after this meal, Momofuku Nishi was reviewed by critics who were pleased with its food and its no-tipping policy but unhappy with its brutal acoustics and other informalities.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 5, 2016

In informal speech a lot of us — even English teachers — lapse into all sorts of informalities.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2012

He says that the ecclesiastical authority before whom the matter was laid declares that there were informalities, and that you must be married again.

From Taquisara by F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford

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