informally
Americanadverb
-
in a casual manner, without formality.
Some folks still dress to the nines in formal gowns and tuxedos, but most people dress more informally.
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in a way that does not involve or follow prescribed procedures or go through formal or official channels.
Cases of minor misconduct or unsatisfactory performance are usually best dealt with informally.
-
in a way that is not orchestrated or arranged.
Hallways and pedestrian bridges joining the buildings provide spaces for researchers to interact informally.
-
using familiar, casual, or ordinary speech or writing.
We use different registers, speaking more informally with family and friends out of the classroom than when discussing academics within the classroom.
Other Word Forms
- quasi-informally adverb
- superinformally adverb
Etymology
Origin of informally
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.
Altman in early 2025 asked former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to informally consult a team inside OpenAI working on making a social-media project similar to X, according to the Journal.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026
In this alternate past, a fatal blood virus, known informally as the Red Wind, has been ravaging the population for about a decade.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
More than 80 percent of India's e-waste is still processed informally, according to a United Nations Development Programme note in October.
From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026
An email from the accountancy firm PwC said that creditors were "informally" offered 25p in the pound.
From BBC • Feb. 11, 2026
After graduating, he continued to hang around the Washington shell house, informally advising students and coaches and generally helping out.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
