<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>strict adherence to, or observance of, prescribed or traditional forms, as in music, poetry, and art.</li><li>strong attachment to external forms and observances.</li><li>a doctrine that acts are in themselves right or wrong regardless of consequences.</li><li>a doctrine, which evolved from a proposal of David Hilbert, that mathematics, including the logic used in proofs, can be based on the formal manipulation of symbols without regard to their meaning.</li></ul>