casual

[kazh-oo-uhl]

See more synonyms for casual on Thesaurus.com

adjective

happening by chance; fortuitous: a casual meeting.
without definite or serious intention; careless or offhand; passing: a casual remark.
seeming or tending to be indifferent to what is happening; apathetic; unconcerned: a casual, nonchalant air.

without emotional intimacy or commitment: casual sex.
appropriate for wear or use on informal occasions; not dressy: casual clothes; casual wear.
irregular; occasional: a casual visitor.
accidental: a casual mishap.
noting or relating to video games that do not require much skill or time commitment, or noting a player of such games: casual gamers.Compare hard-core(def 6).
Obsolete. uncertain.

noun

a worker employed only irregularly.
a soldier temporarily at a station or other place of duty, and usually en route to another station.
Usually Disparaging. a person who plays video games that do not require much skill or time commitment.

Origin of casual

1325–75; Middle English < Latin cāsuālis, equivalent to cāsu(s) case¹ + -ālis -al¹; replacing Middle English casuel < Middle French < Latin as above

Related formscas·u·al·ly, adverbcas·u·al·ness, nouno·ver·cas·u·al, adjectiveo·ver·cas·u·al·ly, adverbo·ver·cas·u·al·ness, nounul·tra·cas·u·al, adjectiveul·tra·cas·u·al·ly, adverbul·tra·cas·u·al·ness, nounun·cas·u·al, adjectiveun·cas·u·al·ly, adverbun·cas·u·al·ness, noun

Synonyms for casual

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1. unexpected, fortuitous, unforeseen. 6. random.

Synonym study

1. See accidental.

Antonyms for casual

1. planned.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for casualness

informality, nonchalance, naturalness, familiarity, poise, composure, easiness, carelessness, inattention, apathy, disregard, disinterestedness, unconcern

Examples from the Web for casualness

Historical Examples of casualness

She made an effort at casualness: "Let's see what Daddy's doing back there."
Tree, Spare that Woodman
Dave Dryfoos
For all my manner of casualness, I knew that haste was necessary.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, May, 1930
Various
"Oh, anything you order," said Locuty with an effort at casualness.
Secret Armies
John L. Spivak
Her preparation of Aunt Rosamund for the reception of Fiorsen was a masterpiece of casualness.
Beyond
John Galsworthy
In peace, and especially in war, the young man's creed is casualness.
Life in a Tank
Richard Haigh

British Dictionary definitions for casualness

casual

adjective

happening by accident or chancea casual meeting
offhand; not premeditateda casual remark
shallow or superficiala casual affair
being or seeming unconcerned or apathetiche assumed a casual attitude
(esp of dress) for informal weara casual coat
occasional or irregularcasual visits; a casual labourer
biology another term for adventive

noun

(usually plural) an informal article of clothing or footwear
an occasional worker
biology another term for an adventive
(usually plural) a young man dressed in expensive casual clothes who goes to football matches in order to start fights

Derived Formscasually, adverbcasualness, noun

Word Origin for casual

C14: from Late Latin cāsuālis happening by chance, from Latin cāsus event, from cadere to fall; see case 1

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

Word Origin and History for casualness

1730, from casual (adj.) + -ness.

casual

adj.

late 14c., "subject to or produced by chance," from Middle French casuel (15c.), from Late Latin casualis "by chance," from Latin casus "chance, occasion, opportunity; accident, event" (see case (n.1)).

Of persons, in the sense of "not to be depended on, unmethodical," it is attested from 1883; meaning "showing lack of interest" is from 1916. Of clothes, "informal," from 1939. Related: Casually.