Casual Meaning
/ˈkaʒ(uː)əl/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjHappening by chance.
adjComing without regularity; occasional or incidental.
Sentence Examples
We ought to expect some casual visitors.
A casual remark can hurt someone.
She wore a casual dress to the informal dinner party.
CEFR Practice Quiz
For the beach party, everyone wore ____ clothes instead of formal suits.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He wore ____ clothes like jeans and a shirt to the informal party today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French casuel, from Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”) (whence English cadence).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"casual breaks, in the general system"
— 1819 June 23 – 1820 September 13, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “(please specify the title)”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC:
"a constant habit, rather than a casual gesture"
— 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 9, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
"This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"I removed my jacket and threw it casually over the back of the settee."
— 2007, Nick Holland, The Girl on the Bus, page 117:
"It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
For the beach party, everyone wore ____ clothes instead of formal suits.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He wore ____ clothes like jeans and a shirt to the informal party today.