formal (adj.)

  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; the requirement was only formal and often ignored; a formal education'

  2. (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'

    formal (n.)

  1. a lavish dance requiring formal attire

    [ Syn: ball ]

  2. a gown for evening wear

    [ Syn: dinner dress , dinner dress , dinner gown , dinner gown , evening gown , evening gown ]

    formal (adj.)

  1. characteristic of or befitting a person in authority; formal duties; an official banquet'

  2. represented in simplified or symbolic form

    [ Syn: conventional , schematic ]

  3. logically deductive; formal proof'

  4. refined or imposing in manner or appearance; befitting a royal court; a courtly gentleman

    [ Syn: courtly , stately ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.