colloquial
characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing; informal.
involving or using conversation.
Origin of colloquial
1synonym study For colloquial
Opposites for colloquial
Other words from colloquial
- col·lo·qui·al·ly, adverb
- col·lo·qui·al·ness, col·lo·qui·al·i·ty, noun
- qua·si-col·lo·qui·al, adjective
- qua·si-col·lo·qui·al·ly, adverb
- sem·i·col·lo·qui·al, adjective
- sem·i·col·lo·qui·al·ly, adverb
- un·col·lo·qui·al, adjective
- un·col·lo·qui·al·ly, adverb
Words Nearby colloquial
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use colloquial in a sentence
What people have suffered during the pandemic is “touch hunger,” a colloquial term for what social scientists call “affection deprivation”, a state in which individuals want or need more affection than they receive.
There’s a biological reason why we miss hugs so much | Purbita Saha | August 23, 2021 | Popular-ScienceDescent of Woman fit well into a genre of colloquial science that aimed to present scientific arguments to readers with common sense but little scientific training.
Other linguistic variations that challenge AI include different slang or colloquial expressions to convey similar meanings and other paralinguistic features like tone, intonation, pacing, pausing, and pitch.
Building customer relationships with conversational AI | Martha Leibs | March 29, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewColor has not disclosed a valuation with recent rounds, making this the first official confirmation that the company is a “unicorn,” a colloquial industry term for a private startup worth over $1 billion.
Health tech platform Color is a unicorn after new funding round values it at $1.5 billion | dzanemorris | January 4, 2021 | FortuneAnd, hey, the name Finimondo — “the end of the world” — seems appropriate for these times, though the importer explains that the name is a colloquial expression meaning the wine is terrific.
This sauvignon blanc tastes like a splurge, but doesn’t cost like one | Dave McIntyre | January 2, 2021 | Washington Post
A hypothetical history of how words become part of the colloquial lexicon.
There are no naked bodies (at least in the colloquial sense).
The lanky, scandal-scarred former Congressman and purveyor of the now colloquial sext, has lived and died by the tweet.
Anthony Weiner, Disgraced Over Sexting Scandal, Still Tweeting | Gideon Resnick | February 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn Austria, schnaps is a colloquial term that historically references distilled fruit brandy.
What to Drink When it’s Cold? The Glory of Austrian Schnaps | Jordan Salcito | January 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTo use an US Army colloquial term, he is a "No Go" for the cabinet post.
"All they can rap and run for" is the more frequent colloquial version of this quaint phrase.
The brilliance of his wife, and her most fascinating colloquial powers, also reflected much luster upon his name.
Madame Roland, Makers of History | John S. C. AbbottHe had traveled over Europe, and parts of the East, and possessed great colloquial powers when inclined to be sociable.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellIn the Attic poetry which was written in direct imitation of colloquial speech, viz.
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music | David Binning MonroA "growler" is a colloquial term applied to icebergs of small mass, which therefore only show a small portion above the surface.
Loss of the Steamship 'Titanic' | British Government
British Dictionary definitions for colloquial
/ (kəˈləʊkwɪəl) /
of or relating to conversation
denoting or characterized by informal or conversational idiom or vocabulary: Compare informal
Derived forms of colloquial
- colloquially, adverb
- colloquialness, noun
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
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