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INFORMAL
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I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not formal
Example:
an informal gathering of friends
Classified under:
Similar:
casual; daily; everyday (appropriate for ordinary or routine occasions)
casual; free-and-easy (natural and unstudied)
folksy (very informal and familiar)
unceremonial; unceremonious (without ceremony or formality)
Also:
informal (used of spoken and written language)
Attribute:
formality; formalness (a manner that strictly observes all forms and ceremonies)
Antonym:
formal (being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements (as e.g. of formal dress))
Derivation:
informality (freedom from constraint or embarrassment)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Used of spoken and written language
Classified under:
Similar:
nonliterary; unliterary (marked by lack of affectation or pedantry)
subliterary (not written as or intended to be literature)
slangy (constituting or expressed in slang or given to the use of slang)
epistolary; epistolatory (written in the form of or carried on by letters or correspondence)
common; vernacular; vulgar (being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language)
colloquial; conversational (characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation)
Also:
informal (not formal)
unrhetorical (not rhetorical)
Attribute:
formality; formalness (a manner that strictly observes all forms and ceremonies)
Antonym:
formal ((of spoken and written language) adhering to traditional standards of correctness and without casual, contracted, and colloquial forms)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Having or fostering a warm or friendly and informal atmosphere
Example:
the small room was cozy and intimate
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
friendly (characteristic of or befitting a friend)
Derivation:
informality (a manner that does not take forms and ceremonies seriously)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Not officially recognized or controlled
Example:
a loose organization of the local farmers
Synonyms:
informal; loose
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unofficial (not having official authority or sanction)
