Meaning of formal In English

• 0 public or official:

  • formal procedures

  • a formal announcement

  • I am the formal leader of the project but the everyday management is in the hands of my assistant.

• 1 Formal language, clothes, and behaviour are suitable for serious or official occasions:

  • a formal dinner party

• 2 Formal education or training is received in a school or college:

  • Tom had little formal education.

• 3 A formal garden is carefully designed and kept according to a plan, and it is not allowed to grow naturally.

• 4 a dance at which women wear fashionable, expensive dresses and men wear tuxedos or similar clothes

• 5 using an agreed and often official or traditional way of doing things:

  • There are formal procedures for applying to become a US citizen.

  • It was a formal affair, and men were supposed to wear dark suits or tuxedos.

  • His formal education ended at the sixth grade, but he became a millionaire at the age of thirty.

• 6 a dance at which women wear fashionable, expensive dresses and men wear tuxedos or similar clothes

• 7 stated or agreed in writing:

  • a formal agreement/contract/offer They are required to make a binding formal offer and then publish an offer document within 28 days.

• 8 done publicly or officially:

  • a formal announcement/discussion/investigation The two companies began formal discussions to renegotiate the $2.8 billion power project.

• 9 used to describe clothing that is suitable for important or official occasions:

  • Please note that formal dress is not required at the dinner.

• 10 used to describe education or training that is received in a school or college:

  • Lacking formal education, he worked as a sharecropper and journeyman laborer to support his family.

• 11 used to describe businesses that are officially recognized, pay taxes, etc.:

  • In Mexico small and medium-sized enterprises generate six out of ten jobs in the formal sector.