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casual

[kazh-oo-uh l]
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adjective
  1. happening by chance; fortuitous: a casual meeting.
  2. without definite or serious intention; careless or offhand; passing: a casual remark.
  3. seeming or tending to be indifferent to what is happening; apathetic; unconcerned: a casual, nonchalant air.
  4. without emotional intimacy or commitment: casual sex.
  5. appropriate for wear or use on informal occasions; not dressy: casual clothes; casual wear.
  6. irregular; occasional: a casual visitor.
  7. accidental: a casual mishap.
  8. 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).
  9. Obsolete. uncertain.
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noun
  1. a worker employed only irregularly.
  2. a soldier temporarily at a station or other place of duty, and usually en route to another station.
  3. Usually Disparaging. a person who plays video games that do not require much skill or time commitment.
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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

See more synonyms for casual on Thesaurus.com
1. unexpected, fortuitous, unforeseen. 6. random.

Synonym study

1. See accidental.

Antonyms

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

Examples from the Web for casualness

Historical Examples

  • 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.

  • "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
  1. happening by accident or chancea casual meeting
  2. offhand; not premeditateda casual remark
  3. shallow or superficiala casual affair
  4. being or seeming unconcerned or apathetiche assumed a casual attitude
  5. (esp of dress) for informal weara casual coat
  6. occasional or irregularcasual visits; a casual labourer
  7. biology another term for adventive
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noun
  1. (usually plural) an informal article of clothing or footwear
  2. an occasional worker
  3. biology another term for an adventive
  4. (usually plural) a young man dressed in expensive casual clothes who goes to football matches in order to start fights
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Derived Formscasually, adverbcasualness, noun

Word Origin

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

n.

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

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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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper