colloquial
Americanadjective
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characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing; informal.
- Antonyms:
- formal
-
involving or using conversation.
adjective
-
of or relating to conversation
-
denoting or characterized by informal or conversational idiom or vocabulary Compare informal
Related Words
Colloquial, conversational, informal refer to types of speech or to usages not on a formal level. Colloquial is often mistakenly used with a connotation of disapproval, as if it meant “vulgar” or “bad” or “incorrect” usage, whereas it is merely a familiar style used in speaking and writing. Conversational refers to a style used in the oral exchange of ideas, opinions, etc.: an easy conversational style. Informal means without formality, without strict attention to set forms, unceremonious: an informal manner of speaking; it describes the ordinary, everyday language of cultivated speakers.
Other Word Forms
- colloquiality noun
- colloquially adverb
- colloquialness noun
- quasi-colloquial adjective
- quasi-colloquially adverb
- semicolloquial adjective
- semicolloquially adverb
- uncolloquial adjective
- uncolloquially adverb
Etymology
Origin of colloquial
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
