casual

casual

English

Alternative forms

• casuall (obsolete)
• (shortening, informal) cazh

Etymology

From Middle French casuel, from Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”) (whence English cadence).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkaʒuəl/, /ˈkaʒjuəl/, /ˈkazjuəl/, /ˈkaʒəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkæʒuəl/, /ˈkæʒwəl/, /ˈkæʒəl/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛʒʉɘl/, /ˈkɛʒɘl/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /-uæl/
• Hyphenation: ca‧su‧al, cas‧ual, casu‧al

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adjective

casual (comparative more casual, superlative most casual)

1. Happening by chance.
   • 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. S. Van Winkle, […], OCLC 1090970992:

     casual breaks, in the general system

   They only had casual meetings.

2. Coming without regularity; occasional or incidental.
   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 9, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, OCLC 223202227:

     a constant habit, rather than a casual gesture

   The purchase of donuts was just a casual expense.

3. Employed irregularly.
   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:

     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.

   He was just a casual worker.

4. Careless.
   • 2007, Nick Holland, The Girl on the Bus (page 117)

     I removed my jacket and threw it casually over the back of the settee.

5. Happening or coming to pass without design.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess‎:

     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.

   • 2012, Jeff Miller, Grown at Glen Garden: Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, and the Little Texas Golf Course that Propelled Them to Stardom

     Hogan assumed the entire creek bed was to be played as a casual hazard, moved his ball out and assessed himself a one-stroke penalty.

6. (of behavior, usage, or milieu) Informal; relaxed.

   tone in casual interactions

7. (of clothing or utensils) Designed for informal or everyday use.

   Hyponym: business casual

   pants in the casual wear collection

Synonyms

• (happening by chance): accidental, fortuitous, incidental, occasional, random; see also Thesaurus:accidental
• (happening or coming to pass without design): unexpected
• (relaxed; everyday use): informal

Antonyms

• (happening by chance): inevitable, necessary
• (happening or coming to pass without design): expected, scheduled
• (relaxed; everyday use): ceremonial, formal

Derived terms

• business casual
• casual alien
• casual Friday
• casual gaming
• casualization
• casually
• casual sex
• casualty
• casual ward
• fast casual
• fine casual
• smart casual

 

Translations

happening by chance

Bashkir: осраҡлы (osraqlı) Bulgarian: случаен (bg) (slučaen) Catalan: casual (ca) Czech: náhodný (cs) Finnish: satunnainen (fi) French: fortuit (fr), accidentel (fr), de hasard Galician: casual Georgian: შემთხვევითი (šemtxveviti) German: zufällig (de), beiläufig (de) Greek: τυχαίος (el) (tychaíos) Hungarian: véletlen (hu) Japanese: 偶然の (ja) (gūzen no) Maori: kōpeka, hāpūpū Norwegian: tilfeldig (no) Polish: dorywczy, doraźny (pl) Portuguese: casual (pt), fortuito (pt), ocasional (pt) Russian: случа́йный (ru) (slučájnyj) Spanish: casual (es), ocasional (es), accidental (es) Turkish: tesadüfen (tr), şans eseri

coming without regularity; occasional or incidental

Bulgarian: случаен (bg) (slučaen), инцидентен (bg) (incidenten) Catalan: ocasional Czech: občasný (cs), příležitostný Finnish: satunnainen (fi) French: occasionnel (fr) German: gelegentlich (de) Greek: περιστασιακός (el) (peristasiakós) Hungarian: alkalmi (hu) Japanese: 偶然の (ja) (gūzen no) Maori: hāramuramu Polish: przypadkowy (pl) Portuguese: casual (pt) Russian: случа́йный (ru) (slučájnyj) Spanish: ocasional (es) Turkish: rastgele (tr)

employed irregularly

Finnish: satunnainen (fi) German: gelegentlich (de) Hungarian: alkalmi (hu) Japanese: 非正規雇用の (hiseiki koyō no) Maori: kōhikohiko Polish: sezonowy (pl) Russian: вре́менный (ru) (vrémennyj), (seasonal) сезо́нный (ru) (sezónnyj) Spanish: ocasional (es) Turkish: arasıra (tr)

careless

Bulgarian: небрежен (bg) (nebrežen) Dutch: achteloos (nl) Finnish: huoleton (fi) French: désinvolte (fr) German: gleichgültig (de) Hungarian: nemtörődöm (hu) Italian: noncurante (it) Maori: pakirara Polish: niedbały (pl) Russian: небре́жный (ru) (nebréžnyj) Spanish: indiferente (es) Turkish: boşverci

happening or coming to pass without design

Bulgarian: непредвиден (bg) (nepredviden) German: unmethodisch Greek: απρόβλεπτος (el) (apróvleptos) Hungarian: váratlan (hu) Japanese: 思い掛けない (omoigakenai) Maori: hāramuramu Russian: непреднаме́ренный (ru) (neprednamérennyj), непроизво́льный (ru) (neproizvólʹnyj)

informal, relaxed

Bulgarian: неофициален (bg) (neoficialen) Catalan: informal (ca) Danish: afslappet German: ungezwungen (de), leger (de), informell (de) Hungarian: fesztelen (hu), közvetlen (hu) Japanese: 普段の (ja) (fudan no), 楽な (ja) (raku na), カジュアルな (ja) (kajuaru na) Maori: ōpaki, hāramuramu Portuguese: casual (pt) Russian: неофициа́льный (ru) (neoficiálʹnyj), неформа́льный (ru) (neformálʹnyj) Spanish: informal (es), desenfadado (es) Swedish: ledig (sv)

designed for informal or everyday use

Catalan: informal (ca) French: sport (fr), décontracté (fr) German: leger (de), sportlich (de), ungezwungen (de) Hungarian: hétköznapi (hu), kényelmes (hu), lezser Japanese: 普段の (ja) (fudan no), 日用の (ja) (nichiyō no) Polish: codzienny (pl) Portuguese: casual (pt) Russian: повседне́вный (ru) (povsednévnyj), (clothes only) непара́дный (ru) (neparádnyj) Spanish: deportivo (es) (clothing) Turkish: rahat (tr), sportif (tr)

Noun

casual (plural casuals)

1. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) 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. (UK, historical) A member of a group of football hooligans who wear expensive designer clothing to avoid police attention; see casual (subculture).

   Synonym: (Manchester) Perry boy

   • 2019 September 14, Miranda Sawyer, “Mark Leckey: ‘There has to be a belief that art has this power, this charisma'”, in The Guardian‎:

     At 15, he became a casual: one of the label-wearing, wedge-flicking, swaggering hooligan peacock boys who dominated the north-west when I was growing up. Casuals were working-class lads (called Perry boys in Manchester) who loved football, fighting and brilliant sportswear.

4. One who receives relief for a night in a parish to which he does not belong; a vagrant.
5. (video games, informal, derogatory) A player of casual games.

   The devs dumbed the game down so the casuals could enjoy it.

6. (fandom slang) A person whose engagement with media is relaxed or superficial.
   • 1972, Lee C. Garrison, "The Needs of Motion Picture Audiences", California Management Review, Volume 15, Issue 2, Winter 1972, page 149:

     Casuals outnumbered regulars in the art-house audience two to one.

   • 2010, Jennifer Gillan, Television and New Media: Must-Click TV, page 16:

     Most often, when a series is marketed toward casuals, the loyals feel that their interests and needs are not being met.

   • 2018, E. J. Nielsen, "The Gay Elephant Meta in the Room: Sherlock and the Johnlock Conspiracy", in Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans Through Homoerotic Possibilities (ed. Joseph Brennan), page 91:

     Treating a gay relationship as a puzzle that must be pursued by the clever viewers and hidden from “casuals” until a narrative reveal at the eleventh hour seems antithetical to the idea of normalized representation that TJLCers claim as the main reason they want Johnlock to be canon, […]

7. (Britain, dated) A tramp.
   • 1983, Reg Butler, Reg Butler, London: Tate Gallery London, page 14:

     I was a boy in 1922 or 1923, when buses first started to run between the village and the town; there were tramps, casuals as they were called; the whole pattern of my boyhood was knit into a very loaded atmosphere of human character.

8. Shoes suitable for everyday use, as opposed to more formal footwear.
   • 1948 December, “Shoes: Competition Is Back”, in Kiplinger Magazine, page 47, column 2:

     Next spring you’ll see more women than ever wearing “casuals” and “flats,” the shoes with the wedge heels or no heels at all.

   • 1959, The Medical Officer, page 158:

     In girls wearing casuals, ugly hypertrophied skin over the heels was frequently noted, probably due to the loose shoe moving as they walked.

   • 1967, Kenneth Tynan, Tynan Right & Left: Plays, Films, People, Places and Events, New York, N.Y.: Atheneum, page 65:

     Like his friends, he is wearing casuals, ideal for lounging around crypts.

   • 1984, William Golding, The Paper Men, page 71:

     He and I were wearing casuals […]

Translations

a worker who is only working for a company occasionally

Czech: brigádník (cs) m Hungarian: alkalmi munkás

Related terms

• casualty
• case

References

• casual in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams

• Calusa, casula, causal

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin cāsuālis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /kə.zuˈal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ka.zuˈal/

Adjective

casual (masculine and feminine plural casuals)

1. casual
2. unplanned

Derived terms

• casualitat
• casualment

Further reading

• “casual” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “casual”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “casual” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “casual” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cāsuālis.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.zuˈaw/ [ka.zʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /kaˈzwaw/ [kaˈzwaʊ̯]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐˈzwal/ [kɐˈzwaɫ]

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: ca‧su‧al

Adjective

casual m or f (plural casuais)

1. casual (happening by chance)

   Synonym: fortuito

2. casual (coming without regularity)

   Synonym: ocasional

3. casual (designed for informal or everyday use)

Derived terms

• casualmente

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin cāsuālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈswal/ [kaˈswal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ca‧sual

Adjective

casual (plural casuales)

1. casual
2. accidental
3. coincidental, chance

Derived terms

• casualmente

Descendants

• → Cebuano: kaswal

Further reading

• “casual”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014