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formal mode

British

noun

philosophy the style in which words are explicitly mentioned rather than used of their subject matter. "Fido" is a dog's name is in the formal mode, while "Fido is a dog" is in the material mode See also mention

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

But for some, this is not merely the embrace of a more formal mode of worship.

From Washington Post • Jun. 20, 2022

Censure is not a formal mode of discipline for a president, but a move Congress votes on in expressing severe disapproval of something.

From Fox News • Jun. 2, 2020

“She’s in formal mode throughout. For me, the most amazing thing is just to witness her from that little girl at age 11 all the way to the present queen,” who is now 88.

From New York Times • Feb. 11, 2015

No formal mode of authorizing him to act is required, usually this is done by word only, and his authorized acts may be ratified by his principal.

From Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman by Bolles, Albert Sidney

Our use of the word university in the special modern sense of the term comes from the formal mode of address to the faculty of a university when Popes or rulers sent them authoritative documents.

From Old-Time Makers of Medicine The Story of The Students And Teachers of the Sciences Related to Medicine During the Middle Ages by Walsh, James Joseph

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023