<p><strong>Adjective</strong></p><ul><li>being in accordance with the usual requirements, customs, etc.; conventional.</li><li>marked by form or ceremony; a formal occasion.</li><li>designed for wear or use at occasions or events marked by elaborate ceremony or prescribed social observance.</li><li>requiring a type of dress suitable for such occasions; a formal dance.</li><li>observant of conventional requirements of behavior, procedure, etc., as persons; ceremonious.</li><li>excessively ceremonious; a manner that was formal and austere.</li><li>being a matter of form only; perfunctory.</li><li>made or done in accordance with procedures that ensure validity; formal authorization.</li><li>of, relating to, or emphasizing the organization or composition of the constituent elements in a work of art perceived separately from its subject matter.</li><li>being in accordance with prescribed or customary forms; a formal siege.</li><li>(Theater) of a stage setting, generalized and simplified in design, especially of architectural elements, and serving as a permanent set for a play irrespective of changes in location.</li><li>acquired in school; academic.</li><li>symmetrical or highly organized; a formal garden.</li><li>of, reflecting, or noting a usage of language in which syntax, pronunciation, etc., adhere to traditional standards of correctness and usage characterized by the absence of casual, contracted, and colloquial forms.</li><li>pertaining to form.</li><li>pertaining to the form, shape, or mode of a thing, especially as distinguished from the substance; formal writing, bereft of all personality.</li><li>being such merely in appearance or name; nominal.</li><li>(Mathematics) of a proof in strict logical form with a justification for every step.</li><li>(of a calculation) correct in form; made with strict justification for every step.</li><li>(of a calculation, derivation, representation, or the like) of or relating to manipulation of symbols without regard to their meaning.</li></ul><p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>a dance, ball, or other social occasion that requires formalwear.</li><li>an evening gown.</li></ul><p><strong>Adverb</strong></p><ul><li>in formal attire; We're supposed to go formal.</li></ul>