informal

See also: informál

English

Etymology

From in- +‎ formal.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfɔɹm(ə)l/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfɔːm(ə)l/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧for‧mal
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)məl

Adjective

informal (comparative more informal, superlative most informal)

1. Not formal or ceremonious.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 3, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.

   • 2019, Li Huang; James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, DOI:10.1080/01434632.2019.1596115, page 4:

     Students and faculty members lunch at the cafeteria and naturally communicate freely with one another in a relaxed and informal setting.

   an informal get-together

2. Not in accord with the usual regulations.

   an informal agreement

3. Suited for everyday use.

   informal clothes

4. (of language) Reflecting everyday, non-ceremonious usage.
5. (horticulture) Not organized; not structured or planned.

Synonyms

• (not formal or ceremonious): casual
• (not in accord with the usual regulations): unofficial
• (suited for everyday use): casual
• (language: reflecting everyday, non-ceremonious usage): colloquial

Antonyms

• formal

Derived terms

• informality
• informally
• semi-informal

Translations

not formal or ceremonious

• Belarusian: нефарма́льны (njefarmálʹny), неафіцы́йны (njeaficýjny)
• Bulgarian: неформален (neformalen), неофициален (bg) (neoficialen)
• Catalan: informal (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 非正式 (zh) (fēizhèngshì)

• Czech: neformální (cs)
• Esperanto: neformala
• Finnish: epämuodollinen (fi)
• French: informel (fr)
• Galician: informal
• German: informell (de), unförmlich, zwanglos (de)
• Greek: φιλικός (el) (filikós)
• Hindi: अनौपचारिक (anaupcārik)
• Hungarian: közvetlen (hu)
• Icelandic: óformlegur (is)
• Irish: neamhnósúil
• Italian: informale (it)

• Japanese: 非公式の (ja) (hikōshiki no), 日常の (ja) (nichijō no), 普段の (ja) (fudan no), 褻の (ja) (ke no)
• Manx: neuformoil
• Maori: ōpaki, hāramuramu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: uhøytidelig

• Occitan: informal
• Polish: potoczny (pl), nieformalny (pl)
• Portuguese: informal (pt)
• Russian: неформа́льный (ru) (neformálʹnyj), неофициа́льный (ru) (neoficiálʹnyj), непринуждённый (ru) (neprinuždjónnyj)
• Spanish: informal (es)
• Swedish: informell (sv)
• Tagalog: dimaanyo
• Thai: ไม่เป็นทางการ
• Turkish: teklifsiz (tr)
• Ukrainian: неформа́льний (neformálʹnyj), неофіці́йний (neoficíjnyj)
• Welsh: anffurfiol (cy)

not in accord with the usual regulations

• Bulgarian: безцеремонен (bg) (bezceremonen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 非正式 (zh) (fēizhèngshì)

• Finnish: epämuodollinen (fi), epävirallinen (fi)
• French: informel (fr)
• German: inoffiziell (de)

• Italian: informale (it), non officiale
• Japanese: 非公式の (ja) (hikōshiki no), 内々の (ja) (uchiuchi no)
• Spanish: informal (es)
• Tagalog: dimaanyo
• Turkish: gayriresmî (tr)

language: reflecting everyday, non-ceremonious usage

• Belarusian: размо́ўны (razmóŭny)
• Bulgarian: разговорен (bg) (razgovoren)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 俗 (zh) (sú)

• Finnish: arkikielinen (fi)
• French: informel (fr), familier (fr)
• Greek: ανεπίσημος (el) (anepísimos)

• Italian: informale (it), colloquiale (it), familiare (it)
• Japanese: 口語の (ja) (kōgo no)
• Macedonian: разговорен (razgovoren)
• Russian: разгово́рный (ru) (razgovórnyj)
• Spanish: familiar (es)
• Turkish: senli benli (tr), teklifsiz (tr)
• Ukrainian: розмо́вний (rozmóvnyj)

Anagrams

• formalin

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Catalan

Etymology

in- +‎ formal

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /im.foɾˈmal/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /im.furˈmal/

Adjective

informal (masculine and feminine plural informals)

1. informal

Derived terms

• informalment

Further reading

• “informal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

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Galician

Adjective

informal m or f (plural informais)

1. informal

Antonyms

• formal

Derived terms

• informalmente

Further reading

• “informal” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

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Portuguese

Adjective

informal m or f (plural informais, comparable)

1. informal (not formal or ceremonious)

Further reading

• informal in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /infoɾˈmal/, [ĩɱ.foɾˈmal]

Adjective

informal (plural informales)

1. informal

   Antonym: formal

Derived terms

• falacia formal
• informalidad
• informalmente

Further reading

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