formal
adjective
1. being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements (as e.g. of formal dress)
- pay one's formal respects
- formal dress
- a formal ball
Similar word(s): conventional, ceremonial, ceremonious, conventional, dress, nominal, titular, positive, prescribed, perfunctory, semiformal, buckram, starchy, stiff, formal
2. characteristic of or befitting a person in authority
- formal duties
Similar word(s): official
3. (of spoken and written language) adhering to traditional standards of correctness and without casual, contracted, and colloquial forms
- the paper was written in formal English
Similar word(s): formal, literary, rhetorical
4. represented in simplified or symbolic form
Similar word(s): nonrepresentational, conventional, schematic
5. logically deductive
- formal proof
Similar word(s): logical
6. refined or imposing in manner or appearance; befitting a royal court
Similar word(s): dignified, courtly, stately
Sentences with formal as an adjective:
- She spoke formal English, without any dialect.
- I'd like to make a formal complaint.
- Formal linguistics ignores the vocabulary of languages and focuses solely on their grammar.
- The formal stage is a critical part of any child's development.
- Formal wear must be worn at my wedding!
- When they became a formal club the rowers built a small boathouse.
- Formal series are defined without any reference to convergence.
noun
1. a lavish dance requiring formal attire
Similar word(s): ball
Definition categories: event, dance
2. a gown for evening wear
Definition categories: man–made, eveningwear, formalwear, gown
Sentences with formal as a noun:
- Jenny took Sam to her Year 12 formal.