casual 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: 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 suited for everyday use; "casual clothes"; "everyday clothes" [syn: everyday]

4 occurring or appearing or singled out by chance; "their accidental meeting led to a renewal of their friendship"; "seek help from casual passers-by"; "a casual meeting"; "a chance occurrence" [syn: accidental, chance(a)]

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: cursory, passing(a), perfunctory]

6 employed in a specified capacity from time to time; "casual employment"; "a casual correspondence with a former teacher"; "an occasional worker" [syn: occasional]

7 characterized by a feeling of irresponsibility; "a broken back is nothing to be casual about; it is no fooling matter" [syn: fooling]

8 natural and unstudied; "using their Christian names in a casual way"; "lectured in a free-and-easy style" [syn: free-and-easy]

9 not showing effort or strain; "a difficult feat performed with casual mastery"; "careless grace" [syn: effortless]

English

Adjective

1. Happening or coming to pass without design
2. Without being foreseen or expected;
3. Accidental
4. Fortuitous; coming by chance.
5. Coming without regularity; occasional or incidental
   • The purchase of donuts were just casual expenses.

Synonyms

• accidental
• fortuitous
• incidental
• occasional

Derived terms

• casually
• casualization
• smart casual

Translations

• Greek: περιστασιακός, συμπτωματικός, τυχαίος, απρόβλεπτος

References

about the dress code

In the European tradition, casual is the dress code which emphasizes comfort and personal expression over presentation and uniformity. It includes a very wide variety of costume, so is perhaps better defined by what it isn't than what it is. The following are not considered casual wear:

• Ceremonial dress such as royal robes and full dress military costume
• Formal wear such as white tie and black tie
• Suits such as those sold by Brooks Brothers and Chanel
• Any stiff or very traditional elements, such as highly polished dark leather shoes, or highly creased and pressed shirts and trousers

Blue jeans and a T-shirt have been described as the "casual uniform". With the popularity of spectator sports in the late 20th century, a good deal of athletic gear has influenced casual wear. Clothing worn for manual labor also falls into casual wear.

While utilitarian costume comes to mind first for casual dress, however, there is also a wide range of flamboyance and theatricality. Punk costume is a striking example. Madonna introduced a great deal of lace, jewelry, and cosmetics into casual wear during the 1980s. More recently, hip hop fashion has played up elaborate jewelry and luxurious materials worn in conjunction with athletic gear and the clothing of manual labor.

Casual wear is typically the dress code in which new forms of gender expression are attempted before being accepted into semi-casual or semi-formal situations. An obvious example is masculine jewelry, which was once considered shocking or titillating even in casual circles, and is now hardly noteworthy in semi-formal situations. Amelia Bloomer introduced trousers (of a sort) for women as a casual alternative to formal hoops and skirts. In a recent mirror image, sarongs and other skirts have been embraced by a few men of the European tradition as a casual alternative to formal trousers. Both of these innovations caused great embarrassment in formal circles.

Skin exposure is most pronounced in casual wear, since it includes all swimwear, but the trend toward female exposure in the 20th century has also pushed the necklines of formal ball gowns ever lower and the skirts of semi-formal cocktail dresses ever higher. For men, the exposure of shoulders, thighs, and backs is still limited to casual wear. Full nudity is still considered shocking in casual circles, except at a very few progressive clubs and beaches.

See also

• Casualisation
• Dress code (Western)

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