Word.ws English Dictionary

formalese

formalese noun: the style of language used in formal contexts.

Noun

formalese (uncountable)

  1. The style of language used in formal contexts.
    • In the intricate formalese that marked relations between friends of the time, Mr. Washburn told Miss Hyde of his appreciation for a previous letter of hers and remarked on how it had buoyed up his spirit.1946 December 6, “Letter Written in 1842 Tells of Life in Stowe”, in The Daily Messenger, number 274, St. Albans, Vt., page 4-A

Origin of formalese

From formal + -ese.

Questions about formalese

What does formalese mean?
Formalese means the style of language used in formal contexts.
What part of speech is formalese?
Formalese is a noun.

Words near formalese in the dictionary

  1. formaldehydes
  2. formaldehydesulphoxylate
  3. formaldehydesulphoxylates
  4. formaldehydogenic
  5. formaldoxime
  6. formalese
  7. formalesque
  8. formalin
  9. formaline
  10. formalines
  11. formalinise

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: formalese (page history and authors). 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.

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