formulate
Americanverb (used with object)
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formulates,
present (3rd person singular)
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formulated,
past participle, past
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formulating
present participle
verb
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to put into or express in systematic terms; express in or as if in a formula
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to devise
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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formulationnoun
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formulatornoun
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nonformulationnoun
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preformulationnoun
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preformulateverb (used with object)
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formulableadjective
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unformulatedadjective
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well-formulatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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formulatesimple
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formulatessimple
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have formulatedperfect
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has formulatedperfect
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am formulatingprogressive
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are formulatingprogressive
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is formulatingprogressive
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have been formulatingperfect progressive
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has been formulatingperfect progressive
Past
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formulatedsimple
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had formulatedperfect
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was formulatingprogressive
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were formulatingprogressive
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had been formulatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of formulate
Explanation
To formulate is to come up with a plan. If you are locked out of your house, you'll need to formulate a plan to get back inside — preferably one that doesn't involve kicking in the door. You can also use the verb formulate to mean "put into words." If too many people are showing up at your work in inappropriate clothes, your company may formulate a dress code policy. They may, for example, decree that shoes must be worn at all times. The verb can also mean "to develop a formula for something." If the dog ate the chicken you were going to use in your dinner, you may need to formulate a new recipe for chicken-less pot pie.
Vocabulary lists containing formulate
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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Shape Up: Form
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Hydrophobic compounds are substances that do not dissolve easily in water, a characteristic that can make certain medications difficult to formulate and deliver effectively.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
It also included a one-tap option to use Gemini’s deep-research capabilities to gather some recent developments at this firm and formulate questions based on them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
McLuhan’s theories about how different forms of media evolve almost help him formulate what would become “Saturday Night Live” many years earlier.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Faison: When the pandemic happened, Zach and I did a rewatch podcast of “Scrubs,” and that’s where all of this started to formulate again.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
Did he need the word to formulate his argument?
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
As she formulates her proposal for a better answer, Ms. Horn laments that a knowledge of Jewish civilization is part of a “null curriculum”—history that is ignored in most American classrooms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
A "reasoning model" trained on task-specific examples interprets the goal and formulates Phantom's action plan.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
The typical comedy equation is tragedy plus time; “Diarra From Detroit” formulates an alternate calculation that joins crisis and unanswered questions.
From Salon ● Apr. 2, 2024
Not the official fundraising and administrative apparatus that runs conventions and formulates policy platforms, but the broad constellation of think tanks, nonprofits, academic experts, and journalists that collectively regulates the liberal intellectual atmosphere.
From Slate ● Mar. 19, 2024
“Who formulates the policies of these two companies?”
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
The choice of cathode material, or how the electrolyte – which separates cathode and anode – is formulated are key details influencing the performance and longevity of sodium ion batteries.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
One was a standard laboratory medium, while the other was formulated to more closely match the nutrient composition found in the human body.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026
"She formulated a philosophy of art she dubbed 'self-obliteration' based on simple motifs of obsessive repetition and proliferation," according to her website.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
But if Stoll formulated an originalist argument for his position, it doesn’t make it into Mr. Canellos’s book.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The thesis is misnamed, because, as it is usually formulated, Duhem did not hold it and Quine abandoned it, but it is the fundamental conceptual underpinning of much modern history and philosophy of science.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
School district officials had not been as wise in formulating their policies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The U.S. has no federal laws requiring AI companies to either restrict or disclose queries about making weapons or formulating plans that pose a safety threat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Paris and Berlin want "to have a Franco-German roadmap on this issue by September", he said, adding that their economy, finance and foreign ministers had been tasked with formulating the plan.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
You’re not formulating an answer when you’re watching a movie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
Hazel could almost see the gears turning inside the queen’s head, formulating a plan.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
