CASUALLY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does casually mean? 

• CASUALLY (adverb)
  The adverb CASUALLY has 2 senses:

1. not methodically or according to plan

2. in an unconcerned manner

  Familiarity information: CASUALLY used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CASUALLY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not methodically or according to plan

Context example:

he dealt with his course work casually

Pertainym:

casual (without or seeming to be without plan or method; offhand)

Sense 2

Meaning:

In an unconcerned manner

Synonyms:

casually; nonchalantly

Context example:

glanced casually at the headlines

Pertainym:

casual (marked by blithe unconcern)

 Context examples 

When, however, her husband mentioned casually that she was sleeping so soundly that he could not wake her, we went to her room to see for ourselves.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A name casually written on a slip of paper has enabled me to find her out.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

They come in spite of it, and when the husband mentions casually to the wife that there are new-comers in the cottage, she knows in some way that they are her pursuers.

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

He started for the village slowly and casually, increasing his pace in spite of himself as he neared the saloon.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“I casually mentioned to Miss Trotwood, when I had the pleasure of an interview with her the other day,”—with another inclination of his body—Punch again—“that there was a vacancy here.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He glanced casually at the huddling dogs.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

But, as she turned casually to go about her cooking, he shot another swift look at her, and she, glancing as swiftly back, caught his look.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He said it was very reasonable to think, not only that the species of men were originally much larger, but also that there must have been giants in former ages; which, as it is asserted by history and tradition, so it has been confirmed by huge bones and skulls, casually dug up in several parts of the kingdom, far exceeding the common dwindled race of men in our days.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I could see the vessel being swallowed up in the fog; I saw the back of the man at the wheel, and the head of the other man turning, slowly turning, as his gaze struck the water and casually lifted along it toward me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He crooked the arm next to her—crooked it very slightly and with secret tentativeness, not invitingly, but just casually, as though he was accustomed to walk that way.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)