Meaning

5 senses

  1. (countable, uncountable)An evening gown.

    a gown for evening wear

  2. (countable, uncountable)An event with a formal dress code.

    Jenny took Sam to her Year 12 formal.

  3. (countable, uncountable)A formal parameter.

    a lavish dance requiring formal attire

  4. (uncountable)Formalin.

  5. (countable, uncountable)An acetal formed from formaldehyde.

Examples

121 sentences

  1. Tom didn't need to be so formal.

    Тому не потрібно було бути таким формальним. — deniko

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. He is very formal with us.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. I didn't pack any formal clothes.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Tom never received a formal education.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. Did you make a formal complaint?

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Origin

From Middle English formel, borrowed from Old French formel, from Latin fōrmālis, from fōr

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

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: formals
Singularformal
Pluralformals

regular

Synonyms

4 synonyms
Close in meaning

Word family

2 related words
Relatedhemiformal
Derivedformal swap

Lessons for this word

2 lessons

Collocations

3 patterns
  • a formal complaint
  • formal complaint
  • be so formal

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
forlornC2formA1formalityC1formalizeformallyB1formatB1

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

formal — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto