as in carefully
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Recent Examples of formally
Seeking to cancel his year-long fraud, bribery, and breach-of-trust trial, Netanyahu formally requested a pardon from President Isaac Herzog in November.
—
Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 5 Apr. 2026
Each member of the family dressed formally for the outing, with George and Louis appearing to coordinate their outfits with their father.
—Stephanie Petit, PEOPLE, 5 Apr. 2026
The visit by Rutte was confirmed by a White House official who was not authorized to comment on the yet to be formally announced visit and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
—Arkansas Online, 5 Apr. 2026
Neither the Korean War or the Vietnam War or the Gulf War were actually formally declared wars.
—Esme Murphy, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2026
However, attorneys say that number is inflated because many of the pending cases have been abandoned by the applicants, but were not formally withdrawn.
—Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 4 Apr. 2026
Ali, who wasn’t formally charged, called his family to say that he would be released on bail, and asked them to gather the funds and collect him from prison.
—Cora Engelbrecht, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2026
The application was formally submitted by The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), NANO Nuclear’s partner for the deployment of the KRONOS MMR on the university’s campus.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Apr. 2026
That comet, formally known as Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS), was the very first one astronomers discovered this year.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 3 Apr. 2026
Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 5 Apr. 2026
Each member of the family dressed formally for the outing, with George and Louis appearing to coordinate their outfits with their father.
—Stephanie Petit, PEOPLE, 5 Apr. 2026
The visit by Rutte was confirmed by a White House official who was not authorized to comment on the yet to be formally announced visit and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
—Arkansas Online, 5 Apr. 2026
Neither the Korean War or the Vietnam War or the Gulf War were actually formally declared wars.
—Esme Murphy, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2026
However, attorneys say that number is inflated because many of the pending cases have been abandoned by the applicants, but were not formally withdrawn.
—Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 4 Apr. 2026
Ali, who wasn’t formally charged, called his family to say that he would be released on bail, and asked them to gather the funds and collect him from prison.
—Cora Engelbrecht, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2026
The application was formally submitted by The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), NANO Nuclear’s partner for the deployment of the KRONOS MMR on the university’s campus.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Apr. 2026
That comet, formally known as Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS), was the very first one astronomers discovered this year.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 3 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for formally
Adverb
-
For the most part, royal families dress very carefully; in keeping with their formal dress codes, their wardrobe choices are usually thoughtfully selected, with subtle theming or references, as well as more overt tributes via color or jewelry choice.—
Katherine J Igoe,
InStyle,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Some of the imagery seen by Ferreira’s character is genuine content culled from online, carefully trimmed.—
Mark Olsen,
Twin Cities,
5 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
In many companies, this material is scattered across fragmented digital systems or buried in analog archives that have never been systematically organized.—
Jason Dressel,
Fortune,
1 Apr. 2026
-
By systematically applying color to sections of these overlapping forms, Bettina seemed to punch upward and drill downward through the dense honeycomb, creating a sense of three-dimensional space on the page.—
Katherine Rochester,
Artforum,
1 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Markus Redmond rounded out the cast as orderly turned EMT Raymond.—
Kelly Martinez,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Keep boots upright and orderly by using boot trees, cardboard tubes, or even a short length of PVC pipe.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
The Spruce,
8 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
That also means proceeding gingerly with confessional rituals in the military, whose service members represent all faiths, including none, and should never feel pressured or excluded.—
Andreas Kluth,
Twin Cities,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Marland's friend Stacy, who works on the farm and is close with the animals, gingerly approached the kangaroo and knelt.—
Taylor Ardrey,
USA Today,
1 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
But the interiors are more disciplined—materials used in the rebuild were meticulously chosen by architect Tomoyuki Sakakida of the Japanese design firm New Material Research Laboratory and meant to oxidize over time.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 Apr. 2026
-
The film meticulously depicts inertia and zero-gravity movement.—
Samantha Agate,
Kansas City Star,
3 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Fortunately, the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany has been methodically recording thousands of writers’ events since 1983, when it was founded by the novelist William Kennedy.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
-
The Pios led 4-1 after a period and put the clamps down, methodically squeezing the clock and the Broncos’ hopes of a repeat title, a shift at a time.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
30 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
The central allegation in the Dallas County case is that Morris and Gateway Church benefitted financially from concealing the abuse of Clemishire, and that the church deliberately issued false statements about the circumstances after Clemishire came forward with the allegations.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The Lumières would remain comparatively grounded, sometimes working in what could be called actualities, other times in deliberately fictional sequences.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Formally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/formally. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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