Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Characteristic of or appropriate to the spoken language or to writing that seeks the effect of speech; informal.
- adjective Relating to conversation; conversational.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Pertaining to conversation; conversational.
- Peculiar or appropriate to the language of common or familiar conversation; belonging to ordinary, every-day speech: often especially applied to common words and phrases which are not admissible in elegant or formal speech.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Pertaining to, or used in, conversation, esp. common and familiar conversation; conversational; hence, unstudied; informal.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective linguistics Denoting a manner of speaking or writing that is characteristic of
familiar conversation;informal . - adjective Of or pertaining to a
conversation ;conversational orchatty .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But once it was realized that both speech and writing contained both formal and informal varieties, the term colloquial was not so effective, because it lacks an antonym apart from non-colloquial, and the like.
On informality in dictionaries DC 2007
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But once it was realized that both speech and writing contained both formal and informal varieties, the term colloquial was not so effective, because it lacks an antonym apart from non-colloquial, and the like.
Archive 2007-08-01 DC 2007
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Although reverting to the colloquial is accepted when one wishes to avoid any confusion as to characterization. datingjesus
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Johnson scorned what he called colloquial barbarisms.
Life Of Johnson Boswell, James, 1740-1795 1887
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We know how much this popular influence, or what I call the colloquial process, has infected the traditions of other nations, and it is very helpful to know this, in order to do justice to the Gospels.
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Johnson scorned what he called colloquial barbarisms.
Life of Johnson, Volume 2 1765-1776 James Boswell 1767
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People that are not really fluent in colloquial Spanish believe it is an innocuous word.
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People that are not really fluent in colloquial Spanish believe it is an innocuous word.
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People that are not really fluent in colloquial Spanish believe it is an innocuous word.
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People that are not really fluent in colloquial Spanish believe it is an innocuous word.
dgstone commented on the word colloquial
This word is pleasing to the eyes but its rhythm is a little strange for my ears.
March 14, 2008
Kristianto2010 commented on the word colloquial
The scientific names of mushrooms are often used, as they give rise to less confusion than colloquial names (nama sehari-hari).
January 24, 2011
shanvrolijk commented on the word colloquial
they are constantly able to have sex biologically not just colloquially
January 29, 2018