conform

[kuhn-fawrm]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR conform ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to act in accordance or harmony; comply (usually followed by to): to conform to rules.

to act in accord with the prevailing standards, attitudes, practices, etc., of society or a group: One has to conform in order to succeed in this company.

to be or become similar in form, nature, or character.

to be in harmony or accord.

to comply with the usages of an established church, especially the Church of England.

verb (used with object)

to make similar in form, nature, or character.

to bring into agreement, correspondence, or harmony.

adjective

Archaic. conformable.

Origin of conform

1275–1325; Middle English confo(u)rmen < Anglo-French, Middle French conformer < Latin confōrmāre to shape. See con-, form

Related formscon·form·er, nouncon·form·ing·ly, adverbnon·con·form·ing, adjectivepre·con·form, verbqua·si-con·form·ing, adjectivere·con·form, verbun·con·formed, adjectiveun·con·form·ing, adjective

Synonyms for conform

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR conform ON THESAURUS.COM

1. yield, agree, consent. 3. correspond, agree, tally. 7. adapt, adjust, accommodate.

Antonyms for conform

1, 5. dissent. 3. differ.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for conform

Contemporary Examples of conform

Certainly some people simply cannot stand to live alongside someone who does not conform to their views.
What It’s Like to Be an Atheist in Palestine
Waleed al-Husseini, Movements.Org
December 8, 2014
On his present trajectory, Putin shows no signs that he will conform to international legal and moral norms.
Putin’s World Cup Picasso ‘Bribe’
Tunku Varadarajan
December 1, 2014
But the fun of reading Lennon is in his outright refusal to conform to expectations.
This Weeks Hot Reads: November 3, 2014
Nicholas Mancusi
November 3, 2014
The book also refuses to conform to conventional novelistic style.
This Weeks Hot Reads: November 3, 2014
Nicholas Mancusi
November 3, 2014
But an absence of niceties nor an unwillingness to conform is not a legitimate cause for impeachment.
The University of Texas’s Machiavellian War on Its Regent
David Davis
October 27, 2014

Historical Examples of conform

We are not obliged to conform to any particular set of rules.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
If you do not conform to society, what has society done for me?
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Why can they not conform to the Church, and be plagued to them?
Micah Clarke
Arthur Conan Doyle
I will show them the Holy law to which they must conform, even that which they have broken.
Bunyan
James Anthony Froude
If you conform to custom, you would not say so much of a husband.
The Politician Out-Witted
Samuel Low

British Dictionary definitions for conform

conform

verb

(intr usually foll by to) to comply in actions, behaviour, etc, with accepted standards or norms

(intr usually foll by with) to be in accordance; fit inhe conforms with my idea of a teacher

to make or become similar in character or form

(intr) to comply with the practices of an established church, esp the Church of England

(tr) to bring (oneself, ideas, etc) into harmony or agreement

Derived Formsconformer, nounconformingly, adverb

Word Origin for conform

C14: from Old French conformer, from Latin confirmāre to establish, strengthen, from firmāre to make firm, from firmus firm 1

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

Word Origin and History for conform

mid-14c., confourmen, from Old French conformer "conform (to), agree (to), make or be similar, be agreeable" (13c.), from Latin conformare "to fashion, to form, to shape; educate; modify," from com- "together" (see com-) + formare "to form" (see form (v.)).

Sense of "to comply with the usages of the Church of England" is from 1610s; hence conformist (1630s), opposed to non-conformist or dissenter. Related: Conformance; conformed; conforming.

conform

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

adjective

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Origin of conform

Synonyms for conform

Antonyms for conform

Examples from the Web for conform

Contemporary Examples of conform

Historical Examples of conform

conform

verb

Word Origin for conform