Standard Lemma guide

informally

adv · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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CMU ARPABET: IH2 N F AO1 R M AH0 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

adv

Meaning 1

In an irregular or informal manner; without the usual forms.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

informally dressed
speak informally
write informally

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

adverb

Meaning 2

without formality

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

he visited us informally

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: formally

adverb

Meaning 3

with the use of colloquial expressions

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

this building is colloquially referred to as The Barn

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: colloquially, conversationally

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in-bor. Middle English in- English in- English formal English informal Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-Germanic *-ê Proto-Germanic *-līkê Proto-West Germanic *-līkē Old English -līċe Middle English -ly English -ly English informally From informal + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

Catalan: informalment — in an informal manner
Dutch: informeel — in an informal manner
French: informellement — in an informal manner
Galician: informalmente — in an informal manner
Italian: informalmente — in an informal manner
Polish: potocznie — in an informal manner
Polish: nieformalnie — in an informal manner
Portuguese: informalmente — in an informal manner
Spanish: informalmente — in an informal manner

Word forms

Inflections and variants

more informally — comparative
most informally — superlative

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: none provided

Related: informal

Semantic map

Other relationships

Sources

Where this information comes from

Wiktionary data was expanded into structured fields by Wiktextract. Matching Princeton WordNet definitions and semantic relationships, plus CMUdict ARPABET pronunciations, are merged into this same canonical word page.

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Changes made: Wiktionary markup was removed and matching senses were grouped; WordNet and CMUdict evidence was merged into the canonical word page. Source quotations with separate cited works are not republished.

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Real reading context

Examples

Meaning relationships

Examples

Meaning relationships

Examples

Meaning relationships

informally in complete knowledge articles