What does informal mean in English?

You can learn informal Pronunciation, Grammar & Synonyms in this most authoritative English Dictionary.

informal Meaning, Definition, Pronunciation, Grammar & Synonyms❤️

0 not formal or official:
- The two groups agreed to hold an informal meeting.
- Alliances among small businesses are often informal arrangements, such as two companies teaming up for a marketing event.
- "Hi" is an informal way of greeting people.
- He's the ideal sort of teacher - direct, friendly, and informal.
1 not formal or official, or not suitable for official or special occasions:
- an informal gathering
- Informal talks resumed today in an attempt to end the strike.

What was once an informal event has now become institutionalized.
People chatting at a party will usually be talking in an informal register.
Many informal expressions are gaining currency in serious newspapers.
The party itself was a fairly informal affair.
They started as informal gatherings but they have become increasingly formalized in the last few years.
We replaced one of the scheduled formal discussions with two parallel informal discussions in the day room to explore the impact of context.
An individual is supposed to be influenced by these aspects of informal and formal care when striving toward an optimal formal-informal care mix.
In addition to the theoretical grammar testing described above, we also plan an informal evaluation of the usability of the system.

0 Formal and informal language

We use formal language in situations that are serious or that involve people we don’t know well. Informal language is more commonly used in situations that are more relaxed and involve people we know well.
1 Register

We use the term ‘register’ to refer to particular varieties or styles of speaking and writing. Registers vary because the language is used for different purposes, in different contexts and for different audiences. For example, there is a legal register, a register of advertising, registers of banking and a register of weather forecasting. We commonly recognise registers because of their specialised vocabulary but also because of particular uses of grammar. We also use the term register to refer to whether language is being used formally or informally: