Adjacent Words

Casual definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CASUAL, a.
1. Falling; happening or coming to pass without design in the person or persons affected, and without being foreseen, or expected; accidental; fortuitous; coming by chance; as, the parties had a casual rencounter.
2. Occasional; coming at certain times, without regularity, in distinction from stated, or regular; as casual expenses.
3. Taking place, or beginning to exist without an efficient intelligent cause, and without design.
Atheists assert that the existence of things is casual.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: 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: casual, 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: appropriate for ordinary or routine occasions; "casual clothes"; "everyday clothes" [syn: casual, everyday, daily]
4: occurring or appearing or singled out by chance; "seek help from casual passers-by"; "a casual meeting"; "a chance occurrence" [syn: casual, chance]
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: casual, cursory, passing, perfunctory]
6: occurring from time to time; "casual employment"; "a casual correspondence with a former teacher"; "an occasional worker" [syn: casual, occasional]
7: characterized by a feeling of irresponsibility; "a broken back is nothing to be casual about; it is no fooling matter" [syn: fooling, casual]
8: natural and unstudied; "using their Christian names in a casual way"; "lectured in a free-and-easy style" [syn: free- and-easy, casual]
9: not showing effort or strain; "a difficult feat performed with casual mastery"; "careless grace" [syn: casual, effortless]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French casuel, from Late Latin casualis, from Latin casus fall, chance — more at case Date: 14th century 1. subject to, resulting from, or occurring by chance <a casual meeting> 2. a. occurring without regularity ; occasional <casual employment> b. employed for irregular periods <a casual worker> c. met with on occasion and known only superficially <a casual friend> 3. a. (1) feeling or showing little concern ; nonchalant <a casual approach to cooking> (2) lacking a high degree of interest or devotion <casual sports fans> <casual readers> (3) done without serious intent or commitment <casual sex> b. (1) informal, natural <a casual conversation> (2) designed for informal use <casual clothing> Synonyms: see accidental, random • casually adverb • casualness noun II. noun Date: circa 1852 1. a casual or migratory worker 2. an officer or enlisted person awaiting assignment or transportation to a unit

U.S. Military Dictionary

See transient.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 accidental; due to chance. 2 not regular or permanent; temporary, occasional (casual work; a casual affair). 3 a unconcerned, uninterested (was very casual about it). b made or done without great care or thought (a casual remark). c acting carelessly or unmethodically. 4 (of clothes) informal. --n. 1 a casual worker. 2 (usu. in pl.) casual clothes or shoes. Derivatives: casually adv. casualness n. Etymology: ME f. OF casuel & L casualis f. casus CASE(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you are casual, you are, or you pretend to be, relaxed and not very concerned about what is happening or what you are doing. It's difficult for me to be casual about anything... He's an easy-going, friendly young man with a casual sort of attitude towards money. ADJ • casually 'No need to hurry,' Ben said casually. ADV: ADV with v 2. A casual event or situation happens by chance or without planning. What you mean as a casual remark could be misinterpreted... Even a casual observer could hardly have failed to notice the heightening of an already tense atmosphere. ADJ: ADJ n 3. Casual clothes are ones that you normally wear at home or on holiday, and not on formal occasions. I also bought some casual clothes for the weekend. ? formal ADJ: ADJ n • casually They were smartly but casually dressed. ADV: ADV -ed, ADV after v 4. Casual work is done for short periods and not on a permanent or regular basis. It became increasingly expensive to hire casual workers. = temporary ? permanent ADJ: ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Accidental, fortuitous, incidental, contingent, that happens by chance.

Moby Thesaurus

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