formal
pronunciation
How to pronounce formal in British English:
UK [ˈfɔːml]
How to pronounce formal in American English:
US [ˈfɔːrml]
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- Adjective:
- being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements (as e.g. of formal dress)
- characteristic of or befitting a person in authority
- (of spoken and written language) adhering to traditional standards of correctness and without casual, contracted, and colloquial forms
- represented in simplified or symbolic form
- logically deductive
- refined or imposing in manner or appearance; befitting a royal court
Word Origin
- formal (adj.)
- late 14c., "pertaining to form or arrangement;" also, in philosophy and theology, "pertaining to the form or essence of a thing," from Old French formal, formel "formal, constituent" (13c.) and directly from Latin formalis, from forma "a form, figure, shape" (see form (n.)). From early 15c. as "in due or proper form, according to recognized form," As a noun, c. 1600 (plural) "things that are formal;" as a short way to say formal dance, recorded by 1906 among U.S. college students.
Synonym
Example
- 1. Others have made less formal vows .
- 2. Some people think formal education is a reliable measure .
- 3. Fabric sling-backs suitable for cocktail and more formal dresses .
- 4. Close friends have little need of formal professions of warmth .
- 5. But within this formal system many companies cannot rely on useful boards .