formal language
Britishnoun
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a language designed for use in situations in which natural language is unsuitable, as for example in mathematics, logic, or computer programming. The symbols and formulas of such languages stand in precisely specified syntactic and semantic relations to one another
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logic a logistic system for which an interpretation is provided: distinguished from formal calculus in that the semantics enable it to be regarded as about some subject matter
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.
Such candid airing of friction is unusual at the court, where personal discord is normally kept behind closed doors and legal disagreements are rendered in the formal language of written dissents.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026
He also speaks in full sentences and uses formal language fitting legal argumentation.
From Slate • Aug. 20, 2025
Draft a script for your review podcast that reflects your personality and use of language, rather than formal language.
From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021
If the label’s formal language told people administering the vaccine that the vial contained a sixth dose, that could accelerate the pace of vaccinations at a crucial time.
From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2021
In sixth grade, Miss Perry had insisted we all learn to compose proper letters in formal language.
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
Definitions 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.
