colloquial
- 01 C1 Advanced
adj.describes words or language that you use when talking to friends or family in a casual way.
adj.characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing.
Simple“The teacher explained that 'gonna' is a colloquial way of saying 'going to'.”
In context“While the student's essay was logically sound, the professor noted that the tone was far too colloquial for a formal academic submission.”
UsageUsually placed before the noun it describes, such as 'colloquial expression' or 'colloquial language'.
Teacher's tipLearners often confuse 'colloquial' with 'slang'; explain that colloquialisms are standard but informal, whereas slang is often restricted to specific social groups.
Synonyms - 02 C2 Proficiency
n.a word or phrase that is used in everyday conversation.
n.a colloquial word, phrase, or expression; a colloquialism.
Simple“The phrase 'what's up' is a common colloquial used in many English-speaking countries.”
In context“The dictionary includes several new colloquials that have entered the language through social media and digital communication.”
UsageThis noun form is much less common than the adjective or the related noun 'colloquialism'.
Teacher's tipAdvise students to use 'colloquialism' instead of 'colloquial' when they need a noun, as it is the more standard term.
Synonymscolloquialisminformalism
“As mentioned earlier, it's a pretty colloquial greeting, so you should use it with young people or people you know well rather than in more formal situations or with older people.”
“Unlike, say, the word “haemoglobin”, terms such as “cognition” have been around for so long that they’ve been coded into colloquial use in phrases such as “cognitive decline” and “cognitive bias”.”
1751, from earlier term colloquy (“a conversation”), from Latin colloquium (“conference, conversation”), from con- (“together”) + loquor (“to speak”), + -al.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.