formal
Syllables: for·malUK/ˈfɔːməl//ˈfɔɹməl/
formal adjective: in accordance with established forms. Also the ellipsis of formal hall.
Adjective
formal (comparative more formal, superlative most formal)
- In accordance with established forms.
- She spoke formal English, without any dialect.
- Official.
- I'd like to make a formal complaint.
- Relating to the form or structure of something.
- Formal linguistics ignores the vocabulary of languages and focuses solely on their grammar.
- THE THREE DOMINANT FORMS IN METALSMITHING […] At present, there are but three basic volumetric forms dominating the work of metalsmiths, the spherical (usually in its most practical form, the domical), the cylindrical, and the cubical. […] The possibilities for further variations on them are all...1978, Heikki Seppä, Form Emphasis for Metalsmiths, [Kent, Oh.]: Kent State University Press, →ISBN, page 1
- Relating to formation.
- The formal stage is a critical part of any child's development.
- Ceremonial or traditional.
- Formal wear must be worn at my wedding!
- Proper, according to strict etiquette; not casual.
- He's always very formal, and I wish he'd relax a bit.
- Organized; well-structured and planned.
- When they became a formal club the rowers built a small boathouse.
- In accordance with a methodological framework with well-defined rules or laws; rigorous.
- Despite efforts by limnologists and freshwater biologists to create a formal definition of “pond”, there is still no universal distinction between a “pond” and a “lake”.
- Only formal proofs, which derive theorems logically from their given axioms, are considered satisfactory in modern mathematics.
- Relating to mere manipulation and construction of strings of symbols, without regard to their meaning.
- Formal series are defined without any reference to convergence.
Noun (1)
formal (countable and uncountable, plural formals)
- An evening gown.
- Well, I open up the door / And much to my surprise / The girls were wearin' formals / And the boys were wearin' ties1965, Shadow Morton, “Sophisticated Boom Boom”, performed by The Shangri-Las
- An event with a formal dress code.
- Jenny took Sam to her Year 12 formal.
- I mean, the Winter Formal is something that our kids have looked forward to their entire high school career.2017, Mike Oppenhuizen, Jen Regan, “The D-Train to Bone Town” (17:40 from the start), in Michael Patrick Jann, director, Atypical, season 1, episode 6, spoken by April (Nakia Burrise), via Netflix
- A formal parameter.
Noun (2)
formal (countable and uncountable, plural formals)
- Formalin.
- An acetal formed from formaldehyde.
Also used as
formal is also the ellipsis of formal hall.
formal meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
formal in Hindi
- being in accord with established forms
- औपचारिक aupcārik
- official
- आधिकारिक ādhikārik, औपचारिक aupcārik
- relating to the form or structure of something
- औपचारिक aupcārik, आधिकारिक ādhikārik
formal in Tamil
- முறையான, சம்பிரதாயமான
formal in Marathi
- औपचारिक
formal in Urdu
- official
- رَسْمی rasmī
More languagesFewer languages
- formal in Bengali
- আনুষ্ঠানিক
- formal in Telugu
- లాంఛనప్రాయమైన
- formal in Malayalam
- ഔപചാരികം
- formal in Kannada
- ಔಪಚಾರಿಕ
- formal in Punjabi
- ਰਸਮੀ
- formal in Gujarati
- ઔપચારિક
- formal in Nepali
- औपचारिक
- formal in Pashto
- رسمي rasmí
- formal in Tagalog
- maanyo
- formal in Arabic
- رَسْمِيّ rasmiyy, صُورِيّ ṣūriyy
- formal in Malay
- formal, rasmi
- Dhivehi
- ރަސްމީ rasmī
Examples of formal in a sentence
- A set of words can be formal cognates only if they can be derived from a common ancestor by regular sound laws.
- As a result, much of twentieth-century metalsmithing has relied on surface enrichment rather than formal development for its originality.1978, Heikki Seppä, Form Emphasis for Metalsmiths, [Kent, Oh.]: Kent State University Press, →ISBN, page 1:
Antonyms of formal
Forms of formal
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more formal |
| superlative | most formal |
| Noun | |
| plural | formals |
Origin of formal
From Middle English formel, borrowed from Old French formel, from Latin fōrmālis, from fōrma (“form”); equivalent to form + -al.
See formo-.
Words formed from formal
- business formal
- essive-formal
- formal cause
- formal charge
- formal education
- formal equivalence
- formalese
- formalesque
- formal fallacy
- formal grammar
- formal heresy
- formalish
- formalism
- formalist
- formality
- formalization
- formalize
- formal language
- formal linguistics
- formal logic
- formally
- formal mathematics
- formalness
- formal ontology
- formal power series
- formal science
- formal semantics
- formal series
- formal sociology
- formal sum
- formal system
- formal validity
- formal wear
- formalwear
- hyperformal
- microformal
- nonformal
- non-formal learning
- omniformal
- overformal
- postformal
- pseudoformal
- semiformal
- superformal
- ultraformal
- unformal
- formal swap
Phrases with formal
- formal hall
- formal sums
- formal halls
- formal swaps
- formal causes
- formal logics
- formal charges
- formal systems
- formal grammars
- formal heresies
- formal sciences
- formal fallacies
6 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with formal
Questions about formal
- What does formal mean?
- Formal means in accordance with established forms.
- What is formal in Hindi?
- Formal in Hindi is औपचारिक (aupcārik), आधिकारिक (ādhikārik). See Formal meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use formal in a sentence?
- A set of words can be formal cognates only if they can be derived from a common ancestor by regular sound laws.
- What part of speech is formal?
- Formal can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce formal?
- Formal is pronounced /ˈfɔɹməl/ (US).
Words near formal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: formal (page history and authors); formal (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); formal (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); formal (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); formal (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); formal (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); formal (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); formal (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); formal (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); formal (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-formal.ogg.
Cite this entry: “formal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/formal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.