INFORMALITY

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does informality mean? 

• INFORMALITY (noun)
  The noun INFORMALITY has 2 senses:

1. a manner that does not take forms and ceremonies seriously

2. freedom from constraint or embarrassment

  Familiarity information: INFORMALITY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INFORMALITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A manner that does not take forms and ceremonies seriously

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("informality" is a kind of...):

manner; personal manner (a way of acting or behaving)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "informality"):

casualness; familiarity (a casual manner)

unceremoniousness (an unceremonial manner)

Antonym:

formality (a manner that strictly observes all forms and ceremonies)

Derivation:

informal (having or fostering a warm or friendly and informal atmosphere)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Freedom from constraint or embarrassment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

ease; informality

Context example:

I am never at ease with strangers

Hypernyms ("informality" is a kind of...):

naturalness (the quality of being natural or based on natural principles)

Derivation:

informal (not formal)

 Context examples 

I am sure, sir, I should never mistake informality for insolence: one I rather like, the other nothing free-born would submit to, even for a salary.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

There was just such an informality in the terms of the bequest as to give me no hope from law.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

It seems that there had been some informality about their license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in search of a best man.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)