Standard Lemma guide

formalwear

noun · 2 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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Clothing suited to formal occasions

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

attire to wear on formal occasions in the evening

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: eveningwear, evening dress, evening clothes

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: attire, garb, dress

Narrower terms: balldress, dinner dress, dinner gown, formal, evening gown, dinner jacket, tux, tuxedo, black tie, dress suit, full dress, tailcoat, tail coat, tails, white tie, white tie and tails

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English formal Proto-Indo-European *wes- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *woséyeti Proto-Germanic *wazjaną Proto-West Germanic *waʀjan Old English werian Middle English weren English wear English -wear English formalwear From formal + -wear.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: juhlavaatteet — clothing suited to formal occasions
  • Latin: cēnātōria — clothing suited to formal occasions
  • Polish: strój formalny — clothing suited to formal occasions