Apedia

Pro Forma True Invoice Existing Required Meaning Importance

word pro forma
definition Done or existing as something that is required but that has little true meaning or importance.
eg_sentence The letter she received from him after her husband's death struck her as pro forma, and she knew the old friendship between the two men had never really been repaired.
explanation A lot of things are done for the sake of appearances. A teacher might get officially observed and evaluated every three years, even though everyone knows she's terrific and the whole thing is strictly pro forma. A critic might say that a orchestral conductor gave a pro forma performance, since his heart wasn't in it. A business owner might make a pro forma appearance at the funeral of a politician's mother, never having met her but maybe hoping for a favor from her son sometime in the future. In business, pro forma has some special meanings; a pro forma invoice, for example, will list all the items being sent but, unlike a true invoice, won't be an actual bill.
IPA proʊ ˈfɔrmə

Tags: mwvb::unit:28, mwvb::unit:28:word, mwvb::word, mwvb::word-cloze, mwvb::word-reverse, obsidian_to_anki

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