Origin: 1300-1400 Old French casuel, from Late Latin casualis, from Latin casus; ➔ CASE1
Collocations
COLLOCATIONS►casual clothing
men’s casual clothing
►casual dress
Many companies now allow employees to wear casual dress (=informal clothes).
►casual day/Friday
(=a day when employees are allowed to wear informal clothes)
►casual attitude
Society seems to have an increasingly casual attitude toward violence.
►casual relationship
Did they have more than a casual relationship?
►casual sex
risky behavior such as drug taking and casual sex (=sex between people who do not know each other well)
►casual acquaintance
A casual acquaintance told him about the fire.
►casual observer/listener/viewer
(=someone who is not looking, listening, etc. carefully) To the casual observer, everything seemed normal.
►casual conversation
She mentioned it in casual conversation.
1NOT FORMAL not formal, or not for a formal situationOPP formal: casual shoes Are shorts appropriate at a casual party? men’s casual clothing Many companies now allow employees to wear casual dress (=informal clothes).casual day/Friday (=a day when employees are allowed to wear informal clothes)2RELAXED/NOT WORRIED relaxed and not worried, or seeming not to care about somethingSYN relaxed: Thompson’s management style is casual but organized. Society seems to have an increasingly casual attitude toward violence.3RELATIONSHIP not involving a close or strong relationship with someoneOPP serious: Did they have more than a casual relationship? risky behavior such as drug taking and casual sex (=sex between people who do not know each other well) A casual acquaintance told him about the fire.4WITHOUT ATTENTION without any serious attention or interest: Wayne took a casual glance at the newspaper.casual observer/listener/viewer (=someone who is not looking, listening, etc. carefully) To the casual observer, everything seemed normal.5NOT PLANNED happening by chance, without being planned: a casual encounter She mentioned it in casual conversation.6NOT REGULAR doing something or using something sometimes but not regularly or oftenSYN occasionalOPP regular: casual visitors to the museum the casual use of marijuana7casual worker/employment/labor etc. a worker, employment, etc. that a company uses or offers only for a short period of time—casually adverb: a casually dressed young man—casualness noun [uncountable]