formal

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɹməl/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːməl/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)məl
• Hyphenation: for‧mal

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

formal (comparative more formal, superlative most formal)

1. Being in accord with established forms.

   She spoke formal English, without any dialect.

2. Official.

   I'd like to make a formal complaint.

   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.”

3. Relating to the form or structure of something.

   Formal linguistics ignores the vocabulary of languages and focuses solely on their grammar.

   • 1978, Heikki Seppä, Form Emphasis for Metalsmiths, [Kent, Oh.]: Kent State University Press, →ISBN, page 1:

     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 but exhausted, there being little chance to express new and unusual ideas within the framework of such limited choices. As a result, much of twentieth-century metalsmithing has relied on surface enrichment rather than formal development for its originality.

4. Relating to formation.

   The formal stage is a critical part of any child's development.

5. Ceremonial or traditional.

   Formal wear must be worn at my wedding!

6. Proper, according to strict etiquette; not casual.

   He's always very formal, and I wish he'd relax a bit.

7. Organized; well-structured and planned.

   When they became a formal club the rowers built a small boathouse.

8. (especially sciences, mathematics, linguistics) In accordance with a methodological framework with well-defined rules or laws; rigorous.

   A set of words can be formal cognates only if they can be derived from a common ancestor by regular sound laws.

   Only formal proofs, which derive theorems logically from their given axioms, are considered satisfactory in modern mathematics.

9. (mathematics, philosophy) 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

formal (countable and uncountable, plural formals)

1. (clothing) An evening gown.
   • 1965, Shadow Morton (lyrics and music), “Sophisticated Boom Boom”, performed by The Shangri-Las:

     Well, I open up the door / And much to my surprise / The girls were wearin' formals / And the boys were wearin' ties

2. An event with a formal dress code.

   Jenny took Sam to her Year 12 formal.

3. (programming) A formal parameter.
4. (Oxbridge slang) Ellipsis of formal hall..

Noun

formal (countable and uncountable, plural formals)

1. (uncountable) Formalin.
2. An acetal formed from formaldehyde.

Derived terms

• formalitzar
• formalment
• informal

Related terms

• forma
• formalitat

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /foɾˈmal/

Noun

formal m (plural formais)

1. site, plot
   • 1290, M. Lucas Álvarez P. Lucas Domínguez (eds.), El monasterio de San Clodio do Ribeiro en la Edad Media: estudio y documentos. Sada / A Coruña: Edicións do Castro, page 415:

     damos a uos que tenades de nos essa cassa en que uos ora morades en Eyres, con seu saydo et con todo o formal dessa casa, asi como esta çerrada de muro ao tenpo da era desta carta.

     we give you, for you to have, that house where you now dwell in Eires, with its garden and with the whole plot of that house, as it is enclosed with a wall at the time of this charter

   Synonym: sesego

2. foundation, ruin
3. mould for the production of tiles

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /foɾˈmal/

Adjective

formal m or f (plural formais)

1. formal

Usage notes

Not to be confused with formell. The adjectives formell and informell express the presence or absence of ceremonies: ein informelles Treffen is a meeting in a near-private context. The adjective formal stresses the outward appearance (pro forma) as opposed to the content or the spirit.

Declension

Alternative forms

• formil

Affixations

Derived terms

• formalmente

Further reading

• “formal” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Declension

Related terms

• formalitate

Derived terms

Related terms

• forma
• informal
  • informalidad
  • informalmente

Further reading

• “formal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10