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FORMALITY
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Compliance with formal rules
Example:
courtroom formality
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("formality" is a kind of...):
abidance; compliance; conformation; conformity (acting according to certain accepted standards)
Domain member usage:
person of color; person of colour ((formal) any non-European non-white person)
herald; trumpeter ((formal) a person who announces important news)
slough of despond ((formal) extreme depression)
banausic ((formal) ordinary and not refined)
in that; in this; therein ((formal) in or into that thing or place)
hereby; herewith ((formal) by means of this)
Derivation:
formal (being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements (as e.g. of formal dress))
Sense 2
Meaning:
A manner that strictly observes all forms and ceremonies
Example:
the formality of his voice made the others pay him close attention
Synonyms:
formality; formalness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("formality" is a kind of...):
manner; personal manner (a way of acting or behaving)
Attribute:
formal (being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements (as e.g. of formal dress))
informal (not formal)
formal ((of spoken and written language) adhering to traditional standards of correctness and without casual, contracted, and colloquial forms)
informal (used of spoken and written language)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "formality"):
ceremoniousness (a ceremonial manner)
stateliness (an elaborate manner of doing something)
Antonym:
informality (a manner that does not take forms and ceremonies seriously)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A requirement of etiquette or custom
Example:
a mere formality
Synonyms:
formalities; formality
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("formality" is a kind of...):
ceremonial; ceremonial occasion; ceremony; observance (a formal event performed on a special occasion)
Derivation:
formal (characteristic of or befitting a person in authority)
Context examples:
The obligation of attendance, the formality, the restraint, the length of time—altogether it is a formidable thing, and what nobody likes; and if the good people who used to kneel and gape in that gallery could have foreseen that the time would ever come when men and women might lie another ten minutes in bed, when they woke with a headache, without danger of reprobation, because chapel was missed, they would have jumped with joy and envy.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
There was so much attachment to Captain Wentworth in all this, and such a bewitching charm in a degree of hospitality so uncommon, so unlike the usual style of give-and-take invitations, and dinners of formality and display, that Anne felt her spirits not likely to be benefited by an increasing acquaintance among his brother-officers.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Mrs. Ferrars was a little, thin woman, upright, even to formality, in her figure, and serious, even to sourness, in her aspect.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
On reaching Scotland Yard, however, it was more than an hour before we could get Inspector Gregson and comply with the legal formalities which would enable us to enter the house.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
They were then, with no other delay than his pointing out the neatness of the entrance, taken into the house; and as soon as they were in the parlour, he welcomed them a second time, with ostentatious formality to his humble abode, and punctually repeated all his wife's offers of refreshment.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
When the carriages were really heard, when the guests began really to assemble, her own gaiety of heart was much subdued: the sight of so many strangers threw her back into herself; and besides the gravity and formality of the first great circle, which the manners of neither Sir Thomas nor Lady Bertram were of a kind to do away, she found herself occasionally called on to endure something worse.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
I want to take up my life here, with our marriage.' For, my dear, we had decided to be married as soon as the formalities are complete. 'Are you willing, Wilhelmina, to share my ignorance?
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
His person and air were equal to what her fancy had ever drawn for the hero of a favourite story; and in his carrying her into the house with so little previous formality, there was a rapidity of thought which particularly recommended the action to her.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Bingley had never met with more pleasant people or prettier girls in his life; everybody had been most kind and attentive to him; there had been no formality, no stiffness; he had soon felt acquainted with all the room; and, as to Miss Bennet, he could not conceive an angel more beautiful.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
For my own part, I was under the conviction, despite my knowledge of the man's character and history, that his reason had been restored; and I felt under a strong impulse to tell him that I was satisfied as to his sanity, and would see about the necessary formalities for his release in the morning.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
