"formulaic" meaning in English

See formulaic in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˌfɔɹmjəˈleɪ.ɪk/ [US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-formulaic.wav Forms: more formulaic [comparative], most formulaic [superlative]
Rhymes: -eɪɪk Etymology: From formula + -ic. Etymology templates: {{suffix|en|formula|ic}} formula + -ic Head templates: {{en-adj}} formulaic (comparative more formulaic, superlative most formulaic)
  1. Closely following a formula or predictable pattern, as:
    Conventionalized.
    Translations (Translations): formelhaft (German), schablonenhaft (German)
    Sense id: en-formulaic-en-adj-uOiv1dGy Categories (other): English terms with collocations, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ic, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with German translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 93 7 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ic: 91 9 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 92 8 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 97 3 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 97 3 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 89 11 Disambiguation of 'Translations': 91 9
  2. Closely following a formula or predictable pattern, as:
    Imitative; unoriginal; trite.
    Sense id: en-formulaic-en-adj-DBFDINrk
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: formulaically, formulaicity, formulaicness, nonformulaic, unformulaic Related terms: formula
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      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "formulaically"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "formulaicity"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "formulaicness"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "nonformulaic"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "unformulaic"
    }
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  "etymology_text": "From formula + -ic.",
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    {
      "form": "more formulaic",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
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    {
      "form": "most formulaic",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "formula"
    }
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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          "text": "a formulaic greeting",
          "type": "example"
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              123,
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          "ref": "1982, Walter J. Ong, Orality and Literacy, Routledge, →ISBN, pages 23–24:",
          "text": "Homeric Greeks valued clichés because not only the poets but the entire oral noetic world or thought world relied upon the formulaic constitution of thought.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
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        "Closely following a formula or predictable pattern, as:",
        "Conventionalized."
      ],
      "id": "en-formulaic-en-adj-uOiv1dGy",
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          "formula",
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          "pattern",
          "pattern"
        ],
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          "Conventionalized",
          "conventionalize"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "formelhaft"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "schablonenhaft"
        }
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
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              34,
              43
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          ],
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          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
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              92,
              101
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2025 September 13, Jackie Wullschläger, “Portal to an abstract future or dry dead end?”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 15:",
          "text": "Neoimpressionism quickly divided viewers: did it herald an abstract future or was it a dry, formulaic dead end?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Closely following a formula or predictable pattern, as:",
        "Imitative; unoriginal; trite."
      ],
      "id": "en-formulaic-en-adj-DBFDINrk",
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          "unoriginal"
        ],
        [
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          "trite"
        ]
      ]
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  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌfɔɹmjəˈleɪ.ɪk/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
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      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-formulaic.wav",
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    },
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      "rhymes": "-eɪɪk"
    }
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  "word": "formulaic"
}
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    "Rhymes:English/eɪɪk",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪɪk/4 syllables",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Translation table header lacks gloss"
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  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "formulaically"
    },
    {
      "word": "formulaicity"
    },
    {
      "word": "formulaicness"
    },
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      "word": "nonformulaic"
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  "etymology_text": "From formula + -ic.",
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      "form": "more formulaic",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most formulaic",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
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        "Closely following a formula or predictable pattern, as:",
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          "type": "quotation"
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        "Closely following a formula or predictable pattern, as:",
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          "predictable",
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          "Imitative",
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  "sounds": [
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      "ipa": "/ˌfɔɹmjəˈleɪ.ɪk/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
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      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-formulaic.wav",
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    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪɪk"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "formelhaft"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "schablonenhaft"
    }
  ],
  "word": "formulaic"
}

Download raw JSONL data for formulaic meaning in English (3.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (f492ef9 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.