formality

Noun

formality (countable and uncountable, plural formalities)

1. (uncountable) The state of being formal.
   • [S]uch an one […] recalls as a vision of Paradise the land he has learnt to love; he exaggerates the insalubrity of a northern climate; he bewails the wretched formality of our civilised life, and so, back to the distant solitudes flies his recollection like a dove to the wilderness.1874, Georg August Schweinfurth, chapter I, in Ellen E. Frewer, transl., The Heart of Africa: Three Years' Travels and Adventures in the Unexplored Regions of Central Africa, from 1868 to 1871...
2. Something said or done as a matter of form.
3. A customary ritual without substance, real consequence, or unique meaning.
   • The examination for priesthood is no mere formality, so we have to study well.
4. (countable) A specific requirement for obtaining a legal status, conducting a transaction, etc.
   • I expected some sort of formality before they let me see the crown—so valuable—but there was really nothing at all. I just said, "Can I see No. 64, please?" and he simply pulled one of the shallow drawers out of its case and put it down before me on the table.1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries