Formal \Form"al\ (f[^o]rm"al), a. [L. formalis: cf. F. formel.]
1. Belonging to the form, shape, frame, external appearance,
or organization of a thing.
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2. 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.
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Of [the sounds represented by] letters, the material
part is breath and voice; the formal is constituted
by the motion and figure of the organs of speech.
--Holder.
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3. Done in due form, or with solemnity; according to regular
method; not incidental, sudden or irregular; express; as,
he gave his formal consent.
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His obscure funeral . . .
No noble rite nor formal ostentation. --Shak.
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4. 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.
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A cold-looking, formal garden, cut into angles and
rhomboids. --W. Irwing.
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She took off the formal cap that confined her hair.
--Hawthorne.
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5. Having the form or appearance without the substance or
essence; external; as, formal duty; formal worship; formal
courtesy, etc.
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6. Dependent in form; conventional.
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Still in constraint your suffering sex remains,
Or bound in formal or in real chains. --Pope.
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7. Sound; normal. [Obs.]
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To make of him a formal man again. --Shak.
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{Formal cause}. See under {Cause}.
Syn: Precise; punctilious; stiff; starched; affected; ritual;
ceremonial; external; outward.
Usage: {Formal}, {Ceremonious}. When applied to things, these
words usually denote a mere accordance with the rules
of form or ceremony; as, to make a formal call; to
take a ceremonious leave. When applied to a person or
his manners, they are used in a bad sense; a person
being called formal who shapes himself too much by
some pattern or set form, and ceremonious when he lays
too much stress on the conventional laws of social
intercourse. Formal manners render a man stiff or
ridiculous; a ceremonious carriage puts a stop to the
ease and freedom of social intercourse.
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