casual
part of speech
adjective (casual; more casual, most casual); noun (a casual, casuals — a casual worker, informal)
meaning for a pupil
1) Casual clothes are relaxed, comfortable everyday clothes, not smart or formal ones. tree →
2) Casual means relaxed and not seeming to care much or not making an effort: a casual wave, a casual chat. tree →
3) Casual can mean happening by chance or without a plan: a casual meeting. tree →
4) A casual job or worker is one that is not regular or permanent, done only now and then. tree →
5) (UK, slang) A «casual» can be a member of a football fan group known for wearing designer clothes; and «casual» (gaming slang) is a player who plays just for fun. tree →
6) Casual can describe a person you know only slightly, such as a casual neighbour. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life «casual» describes clothes and mood: non-uniform day is a casual day, «smart casual» is a dress code. In stories it shows a character trying to look relaxed: «He gave a casual shrug, but his heart was pounding.» Phrases: casual clothes, dress-down / casual Friday, smart casual, a casual job, casual remark, casual gamer, casually.
examples
- We can wear casual clothes on Friday for charity. tree →
- She tried to sound casual, but she was really nervous. tree →
- It was just a casual chat at the bus stop. tree →
- Dad has a casual job at the market on Saturdays. tree →
- He gave a casual wave as he walked past. tree →
- The party is casual, so jeans are fine. tree →
- I'm only a casual gamer; I play on weekends. tree →
- A casual remark can still hurt someone's feelings. tree →
note
Adjective: casual, more casual, most casual; adverb «casually» (She walked casually away). Pronounced «KAZH-yoo-ul». Do not confuse with «causal» (about cause, as in cause and effect) — the letters u and a are swapped. Also do not confuse with «casualty» (a person hurt or killed in an accident or war; in the UK also the hospital emergency department).
In the corpora
- Filler words like um, like and you know are fine in casual talk; in formal talk, clear examples sound more confident.
- AHA is a casual yeah or uh-huh between friends; to a granny tak is better, because AHA can sound lazy.
- nE-a is a casual nope between kids, and to adults it can sound rude.
- DYAka is a casual thanks between friends; to the friend's granny the full DYAkuyu is nicer.
- "domAshka" is the casual word for homework, short for the longer "domashnye zavdannya".
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «casual» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.