Formal Dress Manner Adjective Bre ˈfɔːml ˈfɔːrml Evening

• formal evening dress
• the dinner was a formal affair.
• he kept the tone of the letter formal and businesslike.
• she has a very formal manner, which can seem unfriendly.

formal

1. very correct and suitable for official or important occasions
• opposite informal
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/informal
• formal evening dress
• The dinner was a formal affair.
• He kept the tone of the letter formal and businesslike.
• She has a very formal manner, which can seem unfriendly.
2. official; following an agreed or official way of doing things
• formal legal processes
• to make a formal apology/complaint/request
• Formal diplomatic relations between the two countries were re-established in December.
• It is time to put these arrangements on a slightly more formal basis.
3. received in a school, college or university, with lessons, exams, etc., rather than gained just through practical experience
• He has no formal teaching qualifications.
• Young children are beginning their formal education sometimes as early as four years old.
4. concerned with the way something is done rather than what is done
• Getting approval for the plan is a purely formal matter; nobody will seriously oppose it.
• Critics have concentrated too much on the formal elements of her poetry, without really looking at what it is saying.
5. arranged in a regular manner, according to a clear, exact plan
• See related entries: How a building looks
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/topic/how_a_building_looks/formal_2
• delightful formal gardens, with terraced lawns and an avenue of trees

Extra Examples

• Her words sounded oddly formal.
• His manner was stiffly formal.
• Learning was by rote and strictly formal.
• The greeting was polite, almost formal.
• The monarch retains largely formal duties.
• He insisted on formal dress for dinner.
• Howard has a rather formal way of speaking.
• In those days, tutors were formal and distant.
• On receipt of a formal complaint the inspectorate is required to investigate.
• Once the loan has been approved we’ll send a formal agreement for you to sign.
• The government has lodged a formal diplomatic protest about the decision.
• The organization is not a formal political party.
• The two governments announced their formal acceptance of the scheme.
• There followed a formal request for military aid.
• There has been no formal announcement of her resignation yet.
• What this announcement does is put the arrangement on a formal basis.

Word Origin

• late Middle English: from Latin formalis, from forma ‘shape, mould’.