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
-
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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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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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:
“The audience has finally gotten there, and now we can formulate a plan.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
It asked developers to formulate a plan for how to raise the remainder of the money needed, either through private equity, tax exempt bonds or other mechanisms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Wendy’s also withdrew its outlook for the year, saying its new management needs time to fully assess the business opportunities and formulate a comprehensive turnaround plan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
But the offer enables us to formulate a possible structure: that of an unequal relationship between two human worlds, perhaps even a durable social asymmetry between the Neanderthal and Sapiens groups.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026
It’s hard enough to formulate a thought that is interesting and true.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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
She sits on her branch some fifteen feet above him, swinging her leg and looking off over the field while she formulates the dare.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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
"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
Aschenbrenner formulated the worldview behind his paper, called “Situational Awareness: The Decade Ahead,” while he was still at OpenAI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
During the 2009 H1N1 “swine” flu pandemic, getting newly formulated shots “took a lot longer than we hoped,” Pan said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Over the years Ben had formulated fire-tested strategies.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
But instead of formulating a plan, the suit argued, the officers began yelling at him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 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
Pan also said the bank is formulating tools to provide emergency liquidity to nonbank institutions during a crisis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
You’re not formulating an answer when you’re watching a movie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
Perhaps they were formulating their own theories about how Cedric had died.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
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.
