formality

for·mal·i·ty

noun \fȯr-ˈma-lə-tē\

: a formal quality

: something that is required or usual but that has little true meaning or importance

: a formal part, activity, etc.

plural for·mal·i·ties

Full Definition of FORMALITY

1

:  compliance with formal or conventional rules :  ceremony

2

:  the quality or state of being formal

3

:  an established form or procedure that is required or conventional <the interview was just a formality>

Examples of FORMALITY

1. Her use of old-fashioned language lends an air of formality to her writing.
2. He failed to appreciate the formality of the occasion.
3. They haven't approved the loan yet, but that's just a mere formality.

First Known Use of FORMALITY

1597

Related to FORMALITY

Synonyms

amenity, attention, courtesy, civility, gesture, pleasantry, politeness

Related Words

honors; ceremony, observance, rite, ritual; decorum, etiquette, form, manners, mores, proprieties; addresses, devoirs, greetings, regards, respects; favor, grace, kindliness, kindness; protocol, rules

Rhymes with FORMALITY

anality, banality, brutality, carnality, causality, centrality, extrality, fatality, feudality, finality, frontality, frugality, legality, lethality, locality, mentality, modality, morality, mortality, nasality, natality, neutrality, nodality, orality, plurality, primality, rascality, reality, regality, rurality, sodality, tonality, totality, venality, vitality, vocality