1
as in unconventional
not rigidly following established form, custom, or rules
an informal meeting allowed everyone to get acquainted
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in casual
not designed to be worn only on special occasions
chose an informal flowery dress
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in colloquial
used in or suitable for speech and not formal writing
the use of informal language in a scholarly article is really inappropriate
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of informal
If the film feels uncommonly lived-in and authentic, these informal consultants are part of the reason why.
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Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Dec. 2024
This is particularly true for the more than a billion people living in slums and other informal settlements.
—Jonathan Reckford, TIME, 10 Dec. 2024
One notable trend is the rise of authentic, informal leadership communication.
—Feon Ang, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024
The military activity occurred over 24 hours from Saturday to Sunday morning, with six aircraft crossing the Taiwan Strait's median line, an informal boundary between the two sides.
—Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for informal 
Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Dec. 2024
This is particularly true for the more than a billion people living in slums and other informal settlements.
—Jonathan Reckford, TIME, 10 Dec. 2024
One notable trend is the rise of authentic, informal leadership communication.
—Feon Ang, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024
The military activity occurred over 24 hours from Saturday to Sunday morning, with six aircraft crossing the Taiwan Strait's median line, an informal boundary between the two sides.
—Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for informal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for informal
Adjective
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Hart may be an unconventional one, but make no mistake.Morten Stig Jensen, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
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That’s an unconventional set of positions for a utility player, but there’s no such thing as too much catcher depth and the Twins are short on internal first-base options after losing Carlos Santana and Alex Kirilloff.Aaron Gleeman, The Athletic, 30 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Head downstairs to take advantage of their full, seafood-centric menu, or for a more casual experience, make the short walk to Black Sheep for brick-oven pizza served dockside.Betsy Cribb Watson, Southern Living, 27 Dec. 2024
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The style is timeless and designed to be worn from day to night, so plan to pair your new pants with everything casual and dressy, including T-shirts, button-downs, sneakers, and even heeled boots.Carly Totten, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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These posts range from theological breakdowns to translating scriptures in colloquial GenZ language, visualizing Bible stories through AI technologies, and customizing bible covers.Dr. Marcus Collins, Forbes, 12 Dec. 2024
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While Birnbaum’s playful take on Murakami’s prose established the hip, colloquial style the author is still mostly known for today, his translation of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World cut about 100 pages from the Japanese text.Bailey Trela, Vulture, 19 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The novelist was remarkable in approaching the subject of race as a modernist, rather than drawing on Southern tropes or vernacular to convey her characters’ Blackness, said Thadious M. Davis, a professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania who has studied and written about Larsen’s work.Ethelene Whitmire, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2024
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Tom Wolfe, in our pages in 1968, argued for it as a form of contemporary vernacular art, and so did the architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown in their hugely influential book Learning From Las Vegas.Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 17 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near informal
Cite this Entry
“Informal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/informal. Accessed 4 Jan. 2025.
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