Definitions for the word "formal" from multiple English dictionaries.
1. n.
See Methylal.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
2. a.
Belonging to the form, shape, frame, external appearance, or organization of a thing.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
3. a.
Belonging to the constitution of a thing, as distinguished from the matter composing it; having the power of making a thing what it is; constituent; essential; pertaining to or depending on the forms, so called, of the human intellect.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
4. a.
Done in due form, or with solemnity; according to regular method; not incidental, sudden or irregular; express; as, he gave his formal consent.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
5. a.
Devoted to, or done in accordance with, forms or rules; punctilious; regular; orderly; methodical; of a prescribed form; exact; prim; stiff; ceremonious; as, a man formal in his dress, his gait, his conversation.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
6. a.
Having the form or appearance without the substance or essence; external; as, formal duty; formal worship; formal courtesy, etc.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
7. a.
Dependent in form; conventional.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
8. a.
Sound; normal.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
9. adj.
1 in accordance with rules, convention, or ceremony (formal dress; formal occasion). 2 precise or symmetrical (formal garden). 3 prim or stiff. 4 perfunctory, in form only. 5 drawn up etc. Correctly; explicit (formal agreement). 6 of or concerned with (outward) form, not content or matter. formally adv. [latin: related to *form]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
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Additional Info
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