formal

for|mal1 [ `fɔrml ] adjective ***

▸ 1 official

▸ 2 about events/clothes

▸ 3 about education

▸ 4 about writing/art etc.

▸ 5 about gardens

1. ) following the correct or suitable official methods:

The government is promising a formal investigation.

They have offered me the job, but I don't yet have a formal contract.

We intend to make a formal written complaint.

─ opposite INFORMAL

2. ) correct or conservative in style, and appropriate for official or serious situations or occasions:

When we first met, he was a little stiff and formal.

Business letters do not always have to be impersonal and formal.

Ameliorate is a more formal way of saying improve.

a ) a formal event or social occasion is an important or official one at which people wear special clothes:

The Queen will be the host at a formal dinner tonight.

b ) formal clothes are the special clothes that people wear at formal occasions, usually a black jacket and pants for men and a long dress for women

─ opposite INFORMAL

3. ) formal education or training is obtained from studying rather than from working at a job:

She's got a lot of experience but no formal qualifications.

4. ) usually before noun relating to the form or structure of something such as a piece of writing, art, or music:

the formal innovations in Mozart's music

5. ) formal gardens have plants and paths arranged in a set of regular patterns

formal

for|mal 2 [ `fɔrml ] noun count AMERICAN

1. ) a dance to which people wear formal clothes

2. ) a long dress that a woman wears to a formal dance