Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
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

Sausalito has since transformed from hippie backwater to high-end suburb, but the club maintains an air of salty informality.

From The Wall Street Journal May 28, 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

Aureliano Segundo helped her back to bed and with the same informality with which he always treated her, he asked her the meaning of her farewell.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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

In Old Trail Town they always speak of it as running down, or in, or over, in the morning, with an unconscious suiting of terms to informalities.

From Christmas A Story by Solon, Leon V. (Leon Victor)

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training