formal

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements (as e.g. of formal dress)

   pay one's formal respects

2. 2
   adj

   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.

3. 3
   adj

   logically deductive

   formal proof

4. 4
   adj

   characteristic of or befitting a person in authority

   formal duties

5. 5
   adj

   In accordance with established forms.

   She spoke formal English, without any dialect.

6. 6
   adj

   Official.

   I'd like to make a formal complaint.

7. 7
   adj

   Relating to the form or structure of something.

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

8. 8
   adj

   Relating to formation.

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

Etymology

From Middle English formel, borrowed from Old French formel, from Latin fōrmālis, from fōrma (“form”); equivalent to form + -al.