a being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements (as e.g. of formal dress)
pay one's formal respects formal dress a formal ball the requirement was only formal and often ignored a formal education
s characteristic of or befitting a person in authority
formal duties
a (of spoken and written language) adhering to traditional standards of correctness and without casual, contracted, and colloquial forms
the paper was written in formal English
s represented in simplified or symbolic form
s logically deductive
formal proof
s refined or imposing in manner or appearance; befitting a royal court
v make formal or official
We formalized the appointment and gave him a title
v declare or make legally valid
a concerned with or characterized by rigorous adherence to recognized forms (especially in religion or art)
highly formalized plays like `Waiting for Godot'
s given formal standing or endorsement; made official or legitimate by the observance of proper procedures