informal
Syllables: in·for·malUK/ɪnˈfɔː.m(ə)l//ɪnˈfɔɹ.m(ə)l/
informal adjective: not formal or ceremonious.
Adjective
informal (comparative more informal, superlative most informal)
- Not formal or ceremonious.
- an informal get-together
- 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...1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter III, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
- Not in accord with the usual regulations.
- an informal agreement
- Suited for everyday use.
- informal clothes
- Reflecting everyday, non-ceremonious usage.
- When I returned to the movie Ghilli, a Kollywood classic (Kollywood being the informal name for Tamil cinema) that I loved as a kid, I couldn’t help but question why the story continues romantically, without question, after the heroine is slapped by the supposed love of her life.2025 August 14, Saranka Maheswaran, “Cheer up, Ice Cube, your War of the Worlds movie may be really bad, but it’s not worthless”, in The Guardian
- Synonyms:
- colloquial
- Not organized; not structured or planned.
informal meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
informal in Hindi
- not formal or ceremonious
- अनौपचारिक anaupcārik
- not in accord with the usual regulations
- अनौपचारिक anaupcārik
informal in Tamil
- முறைசாரா, முறைப்படி அமையாத, வழக்கமல்லாத, வழக்கத்திற்கு மாறான, இயல்பான, தனிமுறையான
informal in Marathi
- अनौपचारिक
informal in Urdu
- بےقائدہ, بےتکلف, غیررسمی
More languagesFewer languages
- informal in Bengali
- বিধিবহির্ভুত, নিয়মবিরূদ্ধ, যথানিয়মের ধারাবর্জিত, রীতিবিরুদ্ধ
- informal in Malayalam
- അനൗപചാരികമായ, വികലമായ, നിയമാനുസാരമല്ലാത്ത, സാധാരണയായ
- informal in Kannada
- ಅನೌಪಚಾರಿಕ, ಲೋಕಾಭಿರಾಮವಾದ, ವಿಧಿವತ್ತಾಗಿಲ್ಲದ, ವಿಧ್ಯುಕ್ತವಲ್ಲದ
- informal in Punjabi
- ਗ਼ੈਰ-ਰਸਮੀ, ਗੈਰ ਰਸਮੀ, ਗ਼ੈਰ ਰਸਮੀ
- informal in Gujarati
- અનૌપચારિક
- informal in Odia
- ଅନୌପଚାରିକ, ଅନାନୁଷ୍ଠାନିକ
- informal in Nepali
- अनौपचारिक
- informal in Tagalog
- dimaanyo
- informal in Malay
- informal, percakapan
- informal in Thai
- ไม่เป็นทางการ
Examples of informal in a sentence
- Students and faculty members lunch at the cafeteria and naturally communicate freely with one another in a relaxed and informal setting.2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual...
- Family members served as informal coaches who introduced the participants to basic exercises.2025 August 20, Ashlyn Barry, Justin A. Haegele, Daniel Schaefer, Kristen A. Pickett, Luis Columna, “Autistic Young Adults’ Experiences and...
Synonyms of informal
- colloquial
- not formal
- ceremonious
- not in accord with the usual regulations
- suited for everyday use
Antonyms
Forms of informal
| comparative | more informal |
|---|---|
| superlative | most informal |
Origin of informal
From in- + formal.
Words formed from informal
Phrases with informal
Words that rhyme with informal
Questions about informal
- What does informal mean?
- Informal means not formal or ceremonious.
- What is informal in Hindi?
- Informal in Hindi is अनौपचारिक (anaupcārik). See Informal meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use informal in a sentence?
- Students and faculty members lunch at the cafeteria and naturally communicate freely with one another in a relaxed and informal setting.
- What part of speech is informal?
- Informal is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce informal?
- Informal is pronounced /ɪnˈfɔː.m(ə)l/ (UK).
Words near informal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: informal (page history and authors); informal (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); informal (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); informal (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); informal (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); informal (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); informal (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); informal (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); informal (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); informal (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); informal (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-informal.ogg.
Cite this entry: “informal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/informal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.