"formal" meaning in English

See formal in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˈfɔrməl/ [US], /ˈfɔːməl/ [UK] Audio: en-us-formal.ogg [US] Forms: formal [positive], more formal [comparative], most formal [superlative]
Head templates: {{adj|more=true}} [POS TABLE]
  1. If something is formal, it is official and/or public.
    Sense id: simple-formal-en-adj-xdJPYJkh
  2. Formal behaviour or dress is used in polite situations.
    Sense id: simple-formal-en-adj-SAd32rnD
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "formal",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "more formal",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most formal",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "more": "true"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adj"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": "for‧mal",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "informal"
        },
        {
          "word": "casual"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He studied German on his own, but he has no formal language education."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If something is formal, it is official and/or public."
      ],
      "id": "simple-formal-en-adj-xdJPYJkh"
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Please wear suit and tie because the restaurant is quite formal."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Formal behaviour or dress is used in polite situations."
      ],
      "id": "simple-formal-en-adj-SAd32rnD"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfɔrməl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfɔːməl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-formal.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "formal"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "formal",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "more formal",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most formal",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "more": "true"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adj"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": "for‧mal",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "informal"
        },
        {
          "word": "casual"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He studied German on his own, but he has no formal language education."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If something is formal, it is official and/or public."
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Please wear suit and tie because the restaurant is quite formal."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Formal behaviour or dress is used in polite situations."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfɔrməl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfɔːməl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-formal.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "formal"
}

Download raw JSONL data for formal meaning in English (0.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-13 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (4ba5975 and 4ed51a5). 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.

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