formalism

[ fawr-muh-liz-uhm ]

/ ˈfɔr məˌlɪz əm /

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See synonyms for: formalism / formalistic / formalist on Thesaurus.com

noun

strict adherence to, or observance of, prescribed or traditional forms, as in music, poetry, and art.

Religion. strong attachment to external forms and observances.

Ethics. a doctrine that acts are in themselves right or wrong regardless of consequences.

Logic, Mathematics. a doctrine, which evolved from a proposal of David Hilbert, that mathematics, including the logic used in proofs, can be based on the formal manipulation of symbols without regard to their meaning.

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Origin of formalism

First recorded in 1830–40; formal¹ + -ism

OTHER WORDS FROM formalism

for·mal·ist, noun, adjectivefor·mal·is·tic, adjectivefor·mal·is·ti·cal·ly, adverban·ti·for·mal·ist, noun, adjective

non·for·mal·ism, nounnon·for·mal·is·tic, adjectiveun·for·mal·is·tic, adjective

Words nearby formalism

formal, formal cause, formaldehyde, formal equivalence, formalin, formalism, formality, formalize, formal language, formal logic, formally

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use formalism in a sentence

Formalism says by combining and recombining them, contextualizing them in terms of what’s being heard, musically, that’s where meaning is found.
"'Free At Last?' Please. Who Is Free?" Choreographer Bill T. Jones Reflects on a Half Century of Creative Work|Belinda Luscombe|October 1, 2021|Time
Hardy called his new formalism the “causaloid” framework, where the causaloid is the mathematical object used to calculate the probabilities of outcomes of any measurement in any region.
Quantum Mischief Rewrites the Laws of Cause and Effect|Natalie Wolchover|March 11, 2021|Quanta Magazine
Accounting for these scenarios has forced researchers to develop new mathematical formalisms and ways of thinking.
Quantum Mischief Rewrites the Laws of Cause and Effect|Natalie Wolchover|March 11, 2021|Quanta Magazine
He was accused of “formalism,” a catch-all accusation that, like “Trotskyite,” had the ring of execution about it.
When Stalin Met Lady Macbeth|Brian Moynahan|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The concept is that the formalism of past summits has made meaningful conversation difficult.
At the U.S.-China Summit, Friendship Isn’t What Matters|Gordon G. Chang|June 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Originally trained as a painter, Mthethwa brings a determined visual formalism to the portraits of his subjects in their homes.
Breaking Barriers in African Photography|Philip Gefter|August 4, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The very origin of Khassidism was due to a protest against that cold formalism which excluded everything imaginative.
The History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth Century|Leo Wiener
If there is any bias on the bench that is popularly and justly disliked it is a bias towards formalism and technicalities.
The Law and the Poor|Edward Abbott Parry
There was a formalism to it, there was pomp and circumstance.
Ladies and Gentlemen |Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb
In Islam devotion is a strong point, formalism is its weakness.
Bahaism and Its Claims|Samuel Graham Wilson
Any explanation would be futile of this branch of a forgotten formalism.
The Man in Court|Frederic DeWitt Wells

British Dictionary definitions for formalism

formalism

/ (ˈfɔːməˌlɪzəm) /

noun

scrupulous or excessive adherence to outward form at the expense of inner reality or content

the mathematical or logical structure of a scientific argument as distinguished from its subject matter
the notation, and its structure, in which information is expressed

theatre a stylized mode of production

(in Marxist criticism) excessive concern with artistic technique at the expense of social values, etc

the philosophical theory that a mathematical statement has no meaning but that its symbols, regarded as physical objects, exhibit a structure that has useful applicationsCompare logicism, intuitionism

Derived forms of formalism

formalist, nounformalistic, adjectiveformalistically, adverb

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

formalism

Origin of formalism

OTHER WORDS FROM formalism

Words nearby formalism

Words related to formalism

How to use formalism in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for formalism

Derived forms of formalism