Standard Lemma guide

formalism

noun · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈfɔːməlɪz(ə)m/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈfɔɹml̩ˌɪzm̩/
  • CMU ARPABET: F AO1 R M AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

One of several alternative computational paradigms for a given theory.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

An approach to interpretation and/or evaluation focused on the (usually linguistic) structure of a literary work rather than on the contexts of its origin or reception.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: literature, media, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The tendency to elevate formal above expressive value in music, as in serialism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A particular mathematical or scientific theory or description of a given state or effect.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A formal expression of a grammar; a formal grammar; a set of rules of syntax that, without reference to semantics, determine whether a sequence of symbols is a well-formed sentence in a given formal language.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: computing, engineering, human-sciences, linguistics, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • 1992, tuart M. Shieber, Constraint-based Grammar Formalisms, The MIT Press, page 51, It is this abstraction that justifies considering these methods as characterizing constraint-based formalisms in general, rather than an individual formalism.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

The ontological view of mathematics as a mere collection of string manipulation rules.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

the practice of scrupulous adherence to prescribed or external forms

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: practice, pattern

9

noun

Meaning 9

the doctrine that formal structure rather than content is what should be represented

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: imitation

Broader terms: doctrine, philosophy, philosophical system, school of thought, ism

10

noun

Meaning 10

(philosophy) the philosophical theory that formal (logical or mathematical) statements have no meaning but that its symbols (regarded as physical entities) exhibit a form that has useful applications

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: philosophical doctrine, philosophical theory

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English formal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English formalism From formal + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

31 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Belarusian: фармалі́зм (farmalízm) — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Bulgarian: формали́зъм (formalízǎm) — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Catalan: formalisme — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Chinese Mandarin: 形式主義 /形式主义 (xíngshìzhǔyì) — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Czech: formalismus — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Finnish: formalismi — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • French: formalisme — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Georgian: ფორმალიზმი (pormalizmi) — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • German: Formalismus — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Hungarian: formalizmus — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Italian: formalismo — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Japanese: 形式主義 (keishikishugi) — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Kazakh: формализм (formalizm) — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Macedonian: формализам (formalizam) — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Polish: formalizm — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Portuguese: formalismo — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Romanian: formalism — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Russian: формали́зм (formalízm) — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Northern Sami: formalisma — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Serbo-Croatian: формализам — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Serbo-Croatian: formalizam — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Slovak: formalizmus — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Spanish: formalismo — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Ukrainian: формалі́зм (formalízm) — strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice, etc.
  • Chinese Mandarin: 形式主義 /形式主义 (xíngshìzhǔyì) — literature: structural approach to interpretation
  • Kazakh: формализм (formalizm) — literature: structural approach to interpretation
  • Polish: formalizm — literature: structural approach to interpretation
  • Chinese Mandarin: 形式主義 /形式主义 (xíngshìzhǔyì) — music: tendency to elevate formal above expressive value
  • Kazakh: формализм (formalizm) — music: tendency to elevate formal above expressive value
  • Chinese Mandarin: 形式主義 /形式主义 (xíngshìzhǔyì) — mathematics, physics: a particular theory or description of a state of affairs
  • Kazakh: формализм (formalizm) — mathematics, physics: a particular theory or description of a state of affairs