English Reference
Adverb

colloquially

adv. manner
C1 Advanced UK /kəlˈəʊkwɪəli/ col·lo·qui·al·ly

adv.in a way that people use when they are speaking casually. It describes how people talk in everyday life rather than in a formal or technical way.

adv.in a manner characteristic of informal speech or common usage. Often used to describe how a word or phrase is used by a specific group of people in daily conversation.


SIMPLE

The word for 'car' is colloquially called a 'car'.

CONTEXTUAL

While the official name is 'bicycle', it is often referred to colloquially as a 'bike' in most English-speaking countries.

COMPLEX

The term 'folks' is used colloquially to refer to one's family or a group of people, though it carries a slightly more traditional or rural tone in modern urban speech.

If a colleague is easily and unscrupulously making their way up the company ladder, you colloquially refer to them as a 'climber' in Spanish.

The Local· 30 Jun 2021

From colloquial + -ly.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Occasional
Updated