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What is "casual"

Crossword clues for casual

casual
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
casual
adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a casual comment (=not very serious or important)
▪ I only made a casual comment about finding the work a bit boring.
a casual glance (=without any serious interest or attention)
▪ The bench would have been difficult to see by a casual glance.
a casual/throwaway remark (=one that you do not think about carefully)
▪ These days a casual remark can get you into trouble.
▪ I didn’t mean to upset you – it was just a throwaway remark.
a temporary/casual worker (=working somewhere for a limited period of time)
▪ Employees were fired and replaced with temporary workers.
casual acquaintance
▪ She was a casual acquaintance of my family in Vienna.
casual clothes
▪ Most people feel more comfortable in casual clothes.
casual Friday
casual labour (=workers who do jobs that are not permanent)
▪ The industry makes use of a large supply of casual labour.
casual observation (=observation that is not done in a very careful or organized way)
▪ Even casual observation makes this theory improbable.
casual observer (=someone looking at something but not very carefully)
▪ A casual observer would have guessed his age at 70.
casual sex (=having sex with someone without intending to have a serious relationship)
▪ the dangers of casual sex
casual wear
▪ The company makes stylish casual wear for men and women.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
almost
▪ The hero uses violence in an almost casual way and the consequences are never properly addressed.
▪ The first note seemed almost casual.
▪ Just as important, it was a piece of indiscipline that illustrated the almost casual way Labour is conducting this campaign.
▪ The arrest was a quiet, almost casual affair.
▪ It seems to me the other one was almost casual.
as
▪ She sounded as casual as possible.
▪ That does not mean formal, just not as casual as in the recent past.
▪ Consequently, we're seeing it more on the high street as casual wear.
▪ Too stunned to react or notice whether his face was as casual and without regret as his words, I hiked on.
▪ I was almost as casual as Lee when he tapped in his short putt for the Open.
▪ Few had any special skills; they worked as casual laborers, eking out a marginal existence, often reduced to begging.
more
▪ Other more casual visitors could wander in out of curiosity where churches remained open.
▪ There are three very simple but profound advantages to a more casual style of dressing.
▪ Our clothing became less sombre and much more casual and varied.
▪ There was a shift towards a more casual, private, and hedonistic style of life.
▪ The major changes will be in the food and establishing a more casual, diner-friendly atmosphere.
▪ Keeping the length almost the same, he restructured the front with a textured cut for a more casual look.
▪ There is an element that is still doing the Thomasville dining room suite, but we are becoming more casual.
most
▪ But this hardly seems sufficient, as an armoured defence, to deter any but the most casual of killers.
▪ Even the most casual buy-and-hold investor should make a complete reassessment of holdings every five years.
▪ The emphasis on them is apparent even on the most casual visit to schools.
▪ I believe that perhaps the best example is an accident which attracted hardly more than the most casual public attention.
▪ But I've noticed that a certain amount of loot helps to invest even your most casual remarks with a certain significance.
so
▪ Lord, how can he be so casual about it?
▪ In fact, the interviews were so casual that everyone was reassured that they would be released as soon as the general strike eased.
▪ But his request had been so casual that to refuse would have seemed as if she was making an issue.
▪ This would mean punters know they are monitored so casual abuse might be avoided.
too
▪ She did not want to appear either too eager or too casual.
▪ She was neither too casual nor too precious with them.
▪ You seemed just too casual about the whole thing.
▪ Undermanning can make the task nigh impossible on some estates; on the others the approach is far too casual.
very
▪ He looked very casual and exactly right.
▪ It's all very casual these days at the frontier.
▪ Yet it all began in a very casual way.
■ NOUN
acquaintance
▪ He seemed to recall some casual acquaintance saying something recently about market gardening.
▪ Still, Dave puts his family at great risk, yet takes smart precautions to protect a casual acquaintance.
▪ You may have known some one else for twenty years and yet he will never be more than a casual acquaintance.
▪ He will certainly have friends, neighbours, and casual acquaintances.
▪ The majority were introduced to injection by a casual acquaintance.
▪ Writers constantly have to deal with this prejudice, and it is well worth remembering this before discussing writing with casual acquaintances.
▪ The young woman in question, a casual acquaintance of my family in Vienna, had inflamed me with cunning caresses.
affair
▪ But they had still loved each other deeply and his casual affairs were just that.
▪ I have a feeling that most women want more than just a casual affair.
▪ She and Implexion had been conducting a casual affair for years; she knew him better than anyone.
▪ And was he really trying to tell her that he really didn't indulge in casual affairs?
▪ Men always indulged in casual affairs if they could.
▪ The arrest was a quiet, almost casual affair.
▪ It's my work that's important to me at the moment - I don't have time for casual affairs.
attitude
▪ The casual attitude may be related to the observation that the children were rarely changed and were often left in wet nappies.
basis
▪ Particularly significant, was the fact that most workers were employed on a casual basis in very small workshops.
▪ Is there a small office you could rent on a casual basis?
▪ Has an attempt been made to identify nurses in the local community who would be prepared to work on a casual basis?
▪ Gardeners and herders were mostly immune from controls on marketing since they marketed relatively little, often only on a casual basis.
▪ Labourers were found in the docks, railways, factories and domestic spheres, many of them employed on a casual basis.
▪ Your appointment on a casual basis will start on 1993 and will not in any circumstances extend beyond 1993.
▪ Staff employed on a casual basis are entitled to annual leave with pay at the rate of 22 days perannum.
clothes
▪ Why can female staff in Canterbury wear casual clothes but the men have to wear shirts and ties?
▪ Because his shoulders are narrow, he never works in his shirt sleeves, and is seldom seen publicly in casual clothes.
▪ The man wore fitting and casual clothes and those of Holly were thin.
▪ People in bright casual clothes sauntered about and lounged on the empty benches.
▪ She saw him as soon as she started across the room towards the antique chest of drawers where her casual clothes were kept.
▪ It was the foundation on which his whole image rested: the lack of pomposity, the charm, the casual clothes.
▪ Where was the man of the casual clothes and easy manner?
▪ What struck me was the uncharacteristic sight of Victoria dressed in casual clothes.
contact
▪ Federal agents have discovered possible casual contacts between Kaczynski and four of the victims, according to the Oakland Tribune.
conversation
▪ He knew instinctively that this was no casual conversation and that for Cora-Beth's sake he must be honest.
▪ People in his office view him with respect as some one who is self-contained and does not choose to join in casual conversation.
▪ But the compensations for being unable to read or carry on a casual conversation are overwhelming.
▪ Serious issues have been made into casual conversation.
▪ I'd forgotten how funny it is; from now on I shall be using it in casual conversation more often.
▪ It was into this quiet atmosphere of cigarette smoke and casual conversation that the sudden crackle of Foster's radio transmission sounded.
dress
▪ He scrapped segregated dining rooms and often walked around barefoot and in casual dress, eating bananas.
▪ Some have actually instituted casual dress on snowy days so that workers can dress comfortably and warmly when the weather turns sour.
▪ On reflection she believed it was something to do with the way she looked - her casual dress.
▪ It turns out that casual dress had not erased that distinction.
encounter
▪ Each of them is free to have casual encounters outside the strong arms of their love.
▪ All the same, he appeared a pretty imperious figure on casual encounter.
glance
▪ By Sunday evening he hadn't given the far side of the river more than a casual glance for over twenty-four hours.
▪ He sensed more than heard the scuffle of trainer shoes on concrete behind him and threw a casual glance over his shoulder.
▪ Mineral exploration and leisure development were to be the cover story and they would do at a casual glance.
▪ A casual glance would have made it seem that her expression was stiff with anger.
▪ At a casual glance, the club could offer merely what it advertises.
labour
▪ Arrangements were made to obtain contributions from employers of casual labour who might have more than one employer in any week.
▪ Unlike casual labour, skilled workers were heir to a tradition of militancy.
▪ He subsisted on welfare, on charity and on casual labour.
▪ Even now it is the magnet that draws the rural peasants and small businessmen looking for work and casual labour.
▪ It covered predominantly skilled and organized workers while the casual labour problem and that of juvenile labour was untouched.
▪ Moreover they could always use family labour or import casual labour to carry out any essential work.
manner
▪ Some are large, others little more than snapshots, hung in a disarming and deceptively casual manner.
▪ Yet Harrison had cause to cringe at the casual manner in which his case was opened and aired.
▪ She nodded in what she hoped was an equally casual manner and followed him across the crowded foyer to the social club.
▪ We can now prove a result which is often stated and proved in a rather casual manner.
▪ She did not like hearing herself denied in such a casual manner.
▪ He slung them on the banister in a casual manner.
observation
▪ Even casual observation makes this hypothesis improbable.
▪ The facts are all clear, but casual observation alone will seldom reveal the contingencies.
▪ Even casual observation suggests politicians are not simply budget maximizers.
observer
▪ To the casual observer, the tide may seem to be the only movement of water in the estuary.
▪ A casual observer on Van Ness the other day saw even younger adults have difficulty.
▪ To a casual observer water on a surface may appear to be in complete contact with it.
▪ But lately, to the casual observer, it would seem that the match is being interrupted, or at least expanded.
▪ This is the sight which stays with even the casual observer.
▪ Even for casual observers the clues to its presence are abundant.
▪ While the Macintosh still possess all the benefits it seems, to a casual observer, to be an incompatible system.
▪ This is mostly due to the almost universal lowering of expectations among diehard fans and casual observers.
reader
▪ To arrive at section three will, for most casual readers, be as a result of by-passing section two.
▪ The casual reader sees no red flags.
▪ Fascinating and highly readable, this book will satisfy scholars as well as more casual readers.
relationship
▪ I had a few casual relationships after I left the Sorbonne.
▪ He was going with some one at the time, but it was a fairly casual relationship from what I could tell.
▪ The victim and suspect knew each other, and it could have been more than a casual relationship.
remark
▪ Let him wonder if it was just a casual remark.
▪ Examples include money transfers, phone calls, letters and seemingly casual remarks.
▪ But I've noticed that a certain amount of loot helps to invest even your most casual remarks with a certain significance.
speech
▪ It was as difficult to record the casual speech of Zuwaya as it was to take an unposed photograph.
style
▪ I like both classically smart and casual styles.
▪ There are three very simple but profound advantages to a more casual style of dressing.
▪ This casual style was scrunch-dried with firm hold mousse.
▪ Nubby fabrics, for example, better suit a casual style, while smooth fabrics are more formal.
▪ He is wearing shorts and a shirt, an outfit that fits his casual style.
visitor
▪ A casual visitor might suppose it to be a temple dedicated to the genius of seediness.
▪ This path isolates me well from casual visitors, but true friends are not deterred.
▪ This could help deter the casual visitor.
▪ Sublime the cataract might be to the casual visitor, but shrewder eyes were taking its measure.
▪ Other more casual visitors could wander in out of curiosity where churches remained open.
▪ From Brighton Station to the Palace Pier it is designed to be enjoyed both by casual visitors and dedicated enthusiasts.
▪ To the casual visitor Cheltenham is a thriving shopping centre, a centre of affluence which attracts all the best names.
▪ The upper river, above the loch, provides the best sport, and is rarely available to casual visitors.
ward
▪ The vagrants from the casual ward had disappeared at the sight of the policeman; the street was empty.
▪ The casual wards to be extended to accommodate about forty more men.
way
▪ We were learning to treat this daily session in a casual way.
▪ In the same casual way, I have been looking for an Elvis on velvet.
▪ The hero uses violence in an almost casual way and the consequences are never properly addressed.
▪ This was typical of the casual way in which Jennie selected Girls to go abroad.
▪ He flipped just one of the bolts in a casual way and strode off towards the farmhouse across the Paddock.
▪ Just as important, it was a piece of indiscipline that illustrated the almost casual way Labour is conducting this campaign.
▪ I didn't like the casual way he counted his money.
▪ Yet it all began in a very casual way.
wear
▪ She knew perfectly well from the many Press photos of him that he preferred casual wear.
▪ Consequently, we're seeing it more on the high street as casual wear.
▪ Today's look is still smart - even casual wear is part of mainstream fashion.
▪ Our handsome first edition covers everything from suits to casual wear.
▪ There was to be a show in the morning, mainly of street and casual wear.
▪ Smart casual wear is quite in order for dinner time, but bring one cocktail dress for the Captain's cocktail party.
▪ Tailored suits are teamed with polo-shirts and, if he's the outdoor type, there are pages of sports-inspired casual wear.
work
▪ Many were unemployed, many had only casual work.
▪ At the same time, the opportunities available are often for casual work rather than permanent positions.
▪ Chris had occasional casual work, but most of the time he was unemployed.
▪ All strikers had to resort to some extent to borrowing, credit, casual work and other ways and means of managing.
▪ A day's casual work takes on an extra meaning.
worker
▪ New rules mean a set-back for army of casual workers.
▪ Seemingly independent casual workers are often far from being so.
▪ Taxing poverty Popular myth has it that poor peasants and casual workers in the Third World do not pay tax.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ casual shoes
▪ Casual users of the library may not realize that they now need a computerized ticket.
▪ a casual encounter
▪ Are shorts appropriate at a casual party?
▪ Charging an entry fee for museums will not affect the casual visitor very much.
▪ Even casual visitors to the museum could save money with a membership card.
▪ He had a casual attitude toward studying and grades.
▪ Plaid curtains give the room a casual look.
▪ She hurried into the room with no more than a casual glance in our direction.
▪ the casual use of marijuana
▪ Thompson's management style is casual but organized.
▪ Wayne just took a casual glance at the newspaper.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ And these are more than the casual conclusions of two men.
▪ As usual she was stunning, white linen jacket and trousers supremely casual and graceful.
▪ Because of my Tokyo-bred punctuality, I could not get used to such a casual lifestyle.
▪ It is one thing to shock a parent with casual profanity.
▪ Nasal swabs or swabs taken directly from discharging abscesses can be cultured to confirm the presence of the casual bacteria.
▪ Off steps a brusque and bristling figure, carrying a kitbag and casual in a crew-neck sweater.
▪ Other more casual visitors could wander in out of curiosity where churches remained open.
▪ The kids were trying to act casual, but they were still a little dazed.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Casual

Casual \Cas"u*al\, n. One who receives relief for a night in a parish to which he does not belong; a vagrant.

Casual

Casual \Cas"u*al\, a. [OE. casuel, F. casuel, fr. L. casualis, fr. casus fall, accident, fr. cadere to fall. See Case.]

  1. Happening or coming to pass without design, and without being foreseen or expected; accidental; fortuitous; coming by chance.

    Casual breaks, in the general system.
    --W. Irving.

  2. Coming without regularity; occasional; incidental; as, casual expenses.

    A constant habit, rather than a casual gesture.
    --Hawthorne.

    Syn: Accidental; fortutious; incidental; occasional; contingent; unforeseen. See Accidental.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
casual

late 14c., "subject to or produced by chance," from Middle French casuel (15c.), from Late Latin casualis "by chance," from Latin casus "chance, occasion, opportunity; accident, event" (see case (n.1)).\n

\nOf persons, in the sense of "not to be depended on, unmethodical," it is attested from 1883; meaning "showing lack of interest" is from 1916. Of clothes, "informal," from 1939. Related: Casually.

Wiktionary
casual

a. 1 Happening by chance. 2 Coming without regularity; occasional or incidental. 3 employed irregularly. n. 1 (context British NZ English) A worker who is only working for a company occasionally, not as its permanent employee. 2 A soldier temporarily at a place of duty, usually en route to another place of duty. 3 (context UK English) A member of a group of football hooligans who wear expensive designer clothing to avoid police attention; see (w: Casual (subculture)). 4 One who receives relief for a night in a parish to which he does not belong; a vagrant. 5 (context video games informal English) A player of casual games.

Related phrases:
WordNet
casual

  1. adj. marked by blithe unconcern; "an ability to interest casual students"; "showed a casual disregard for cold weather"; "an utterly insouciant financial policy"; "an elegantly insouciant manner"; "drove his car with nonchalant abandon"; "was polite in a teasing nonchalant manner" [syn: insouciant, nonchalant]

  2. without or seeming to be without plan or method; offhand; "a casual remark"; "information collected by casual methods and in their spare time"

  3. suited for everyday use; "casual clothes"; "everyday clothes" [syn: everyday]

  4. occurring or appearing or singled out by chance; "their accidental meeting led to a renewal of their friendship"; "seek help from casual passers-by"; "a casual meeting"; "a chance occurrence" [syn: accidental, chance(a)]

  5. hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough; "a casual (or cursory) inspection failed to reveal the house's structural flaws"; "a passing glance"; "perfunctory courtesy" [syn: cursory, passing(a), perfunctory]

  6. employed in a specified capacity from time to time; "casual employment"; "a casual correspondence with a former teacher"; "an occasional worker" [syn: occasional]

  7. characterized by a feeling of irresponsibility; "a broken back is nothing to be casual about; it is no fooling matter" [syn: fooling]

  8. natural and unstudied; "using their Christian names in a casual way"; "lectured in a free-and-easy style" [syn: free-and-easy]

  9. not showing effort or strain; "a difficult feat performed with casual mastery"; "careless grace" [syn: effortless]

Wikipedia
Casual (subculture)

The casual subculture is a subsection of association football culture that is typified by football hooliganism and the wearing of expensive designer clothing (known as "clobber"). The subculture originated in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s when many hooligans started wearing designer clothing labels and expensive sportswear such as Stone Island, CP Company, L'alpina and Lacoste in order to avoid the attention of police and to intimidate rivals. They did not wear club colours, so it was allegedly easier to infiltrate rival groups and to enter pubs. Some casuals have worn clothing items similar to those worn by mods. Casuals have been portrayed in films and television programmes such as ID, The Firm and The Football Factory.

Casual (disambiguation)

Casual or Casuals may refer to:

  • Casual dress code
  • Casual employment, an employment classification
  • Placid Casual, a Cardiff-based record label
  • Casual (rapper), an American rapper
  • Smart casual a loosely defined dress code
  • Casual (subculture), a football fashion culture
  • The Casuals, a musical pop group
  • Casuals F.C., a football club
  • The style of play in a Casual game
  • Casual (TV series), an American 2015 television series
Casual

In the European tradition, casual is the dress code that emphasizes comfort and personal expression over presentation, formality and conformity. More simply, "casual" can be defined as something relaxed, occasional, not planned, or informal. It includes a very wide variety of costume, so it is perhaps better defined by what it is not than what it is. The following are not considered casual wear:

  • Ceremonial dress such as royal robes and full dress military costume
  • Formal wear such as white tie.
  • Semi-formal such as black tie.
  • Informal business professional wear such as suits and ties.

Although it can be considered "informal" in the senses of "not formal" or "suited for everyday use," informal attire actually refers to a dress code much more formal than casual wear, a step below Semi-formal wear.

Jeans and a T-shirt have been described as the "casual uniform". With the popularity of spectator sports in the late 20th century, a good deal of athletic gear has influenced casual wear. Clothing worn for manual labor also falls into casual wear.

Basic materials used for casual wear include denim, cotton, jersey, polyester, flannel, and fleece. It is best to avoid wearing materials such as velvet, chiffon, and brocade.

While utilitarian costume comes to mind first for casual dress, however, there is also a wide range of flamboyance and theatricality. Punk costume is a striking example. Madonna introduced a great deal of lace, jewelry, and cosmetics into casual wear during the 1980s. More recently, hip hop fashion has played up elaborate jewelry and luxurious materials worn in conjunction with athletic gear and the clothing of manual labor.

Casual wear is typically the dress code in which new forms of gender expression are attempted before being accepted into semi-casual or semi-formal situations. An obvious example is masculine jewelry, which was once considered shocking or titillating even in casual circles, and is now hardly noteworthy in semi-formal situations. Amelia Bloomer introduced trousers (of a sort) for women as a casual alternative to formal hoops and skirts. In a recent mirror image, sarongs and other skirts have been embraced by a few men of the European tradition as a casual alternative to formal trousers. Both of these innovations caused great embarrassment in formal circles.

The trend toward female exposure in the 20th century has also pushed the necklines of formal ball gowns ever lower and the skirts of cocktail dresses ever higher. For men, the exposure of shoulders, thighs, and backs is still limited to casual wear.

Casual (rapper)

Jon Owens (born December 19, 1975), known by his stage name Casual, is an American rapper from Oakland, California and one of the founding members of the alternative hip hop collective Hieroglyphics. After his debut album Fear Itself garnered both critical and commercial success, Casual went on to become one of the most prominent and recognizable faces on the Hieroglyphics roster, releasing five full-length LPs over the span of his twenty-year career. Despite the lackluster sales of the LPs following his debut, which were preceded by an absence of both critical and popular acclaim, Owens has garnered a following amongst devoted hip hop fans, particularly in the Bay Area hip hop scene, largely due to his specialization in hardcore battle rhymes.

Casual (TV series)

Casual is an American television comedy-drama series that premiered on October 7, 2015 on Hulu. Created by Zander Lehmann and directed by Jason Reitman, the series centers on Valerie ( Michaela Watkins), a newly divorced single mother living with her brother Alex ( Tommy Dewey) and her daughter Laura ( Tara Lynne Barr). The cast also includes Frances Conroy and Nyasha Hatendi.

In advance of its premiere on Hulu, the first two episodes of the series received an advance preview screening at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, as part of the festival's new Primetime platform of selected television projects.

On October 21, 2015, it was announced that Casual was renewed for a second season, which premiered on June 7, 2016. On June 23, 2016, Hulu renewed the series for a 13-episode third season to premiere in 2017.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "casual".

Few can equal him in adumbrating the nearness of nameless forces and monstrous besieging entities through casual hints and insignificant details, or in conveying feelings of the spectral and the abnormal in connection with regions or buildings.

Lyim Flewelling II Seregil stole a quick glance at Alec, sensing more than casual curiosity.

To the casual eye the great trunk of the dead baobab tree looked like one of a thousand others spread about the northeast coastal plain of Natal Province, South Africa.

Katrina to make bright conversation until he returned, ushered Beyke into the seat beside him and with a casual salute, drove off.

Lately, however, Mipps had been baffled by a cerain sort of vagueness in his manner, and yet on thinking it over he realized that this casual preoccupation was accompanied or closely followed by reckless high spirits.

I recognised a casual acquaintance, a young Bengali law student, called Grish Chunder, whose father had sent him to England to become civilised.

Elise had tried to get Citrine to ride in the wagon, where she could be screened from casual observation.

He was intelligent enough to realise that it was more than probable that Cumshaw possessed knowledge of that almost forgotten episode which was not shared with anyone else, but he had not the least suspicion that his casual utterance would hit home so shrewdly as it did.

They looked up with casual interest as Dade and Calumet entered, favored them with quick, appraising glances, and then resumed their talk and laughter.

He sees the deejay, Craig Smith, executing a difficult mix and pulling it off with the casual nonchalance of an experienced New York pizza chef in Little Italy, throwing together one of those appetising creations.

Zimmerman, of his easy grace, his urbane manners, his charming personality, his casual allusions to the places he had seen--Singapore, Calcutta, Moscow--mentioning them in about the same tone Dinny might have used when speaking of Oak Grove or Zanesdale or Unger.

Even harder was accepting that his harsh, domineering father had acted from genuine concern rather than casual cruelty.

Rita Clay Estrada Thomas looked splendid in his casual sport coat and slacks-and a complete pair of shoes on his feet.

A blue, floc ky rug hung over the side of the bathtub and a rack of polished looking blue towels were rather too precisely aligned to encourage their casual use.

Most of the Haluk I encountered were in the gracile, fully active state: slender, wasp-waisted beings with slate-blue skin, dressed in natty uniforms, fatigue coveralls, lab smocks, or the kind of casual alien clothing I had seen in the underground establishment of Cravat.