happening by chance; fortuitous: a casual meeting.
without definite or serious intention; careless or offhand; passing: a casual remark.
seeming or tending to be indifferent to what is happening; apathetic; unconcerned: a casual, nonchalant air.
without emotional intimacy or commitment: casual sex.
appropriate for wear or use on informal occasions; not dressy: casual clothes; casual wear.
irregular; occasional: a casual visitor.
accidental: a casual mishap.
noting or relating to video games that do not require much skill or time commitment, or noting a player of such games: casual gamers.Compare hard-core (def. 6).
Obsolete. uncertain.
noun
a worker employed only irregularly.
a soldier temporarily at a station or other place of duty, and usually en route to another station.
Usually casuals . an article of clothing for casual wear.
a person who does something only occasionally: Most of our customers are casuals.
Usually Disparaging. a person who plays video games that do not require much skill or time commitment.
Origin of casual
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Latin cāsuālis, equivalent to cāsus case1 + -ālis -al1; replacing Middle English casuel, from Middle French, from Latin as above
According to a poll we conducted in partnership with the market research firm Ipsos in early May, basketball is one of the sports with the highest share of “major” or “casual” fans identifying as Democrats.
Why A Strike For Racial Justice Started With The Milwaukee Bucks And The NBA|Neil Paine (neil.paine@fivethirtyeight.com)|August 27, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
If you take even a casual interest in cryptocurrency markets, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the term DeFi, which is short for decentralized finance.
Crypto soars again as traders embrace ‘DeFi’ and ‘yield farming’—but some see echoes of the 2017 bubble|Jeff|August 25, 2020|Fortune
Outfitters like Columbia and Patagonia have long made casual frocks meant for traveling or lounging at camp.
In Praise of the Adventure Dress|Alison Van Houten|August 22, 2020|Outside Online
Modern dress—slacks, dress shirts, the uniform of casual businessmen.
The first murder|Katie McLean|August 19, 2020|MIT Technology Review
That was so odd when that came across the timeline in such a casual way.
The Suns Are On Fire, The Sixers Are Reeling, And Other Lessons From The NBA Bubble|Chris Herring (chris.herring@fivethirtyeight.com)|August 13, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
After four or five months of casual interaction, they realized they both had lost a young parent to cancer.
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone|Samantha Levine|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Oh, the heaven and hell wrought by the casual use of a pronoun.
Owning Up to Possession’s Downside|Samantha Harvey|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was not a man given to casual affectionate display; the moment was charged with emotion.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They “hook up” in a manner that makes the casual sex of the 1960s seem like an arranged marriage in Oman.
Up to a Point: They Made Me Write About Lena Dunham|P. J. O’Rourke|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We cannot expect to have a casual relationship with heritage.
For Rent: Priceless Historic Sites|Elinor Betesh|November 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Introduction is a formality and a bore, and is never resorted to by your well-bred host, save in a casual way.
The Young Duke|Benjamin Disraeli
We had separated as though it were the most casual parting in the world.
The Wasted Generation|Owen Johnson
A casual examination of the list of his loves, reciprocated or spurned, would make a companion to that of Weimar.
Egoists|James Huneker
He understood her innocent little subterfuge of being out for a casual stroll just at this time.
Cursed|George Allan England
We heard that many skeletons and relics had been found there by casual excavating, and so went up to try our luck.
The Crest of the Continent|Ernest Ingersoll
British Dictionary definitions for casual
casual
/ (ˈkæʒjʊəl) /
adjective
happening by accident or chancea casual meeting
offhand; not premeditateda casual remark
shallow or superficiala casual affair
being or seeming unconcerned or apathetiche assumed a casual attitude
(esp of dress) for informal weara casual coat
occasional or irregularcasual visits; a casual labourer
biology another term for adventive
noun
(usually plural)an informal article of clothing or footwear
an occasional worker
biology another term for an adventive
(usually plural)a young man dressed in expensive casual clothes who goes to football matches in order to start fights
Derived forms of casual
casually, adverbcasualness, noun
Word Origin for casual
C14: from Late Latin cāsuālis happening by chance, from Latin cāsus event, from cadere to fall; see case1