formalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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formalizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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formalized,
past participle, past
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formalizing
present participle
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to make formal, especially for the sake of official or authorized acceptance.
to formalize an understanding by drawing up a legal contract.
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to give a definite form or shape to.
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to state or restate (the rules or implied rules of a grammar or the like) in symbolic form.
verb
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to be or make formal
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(tr) to make official or valid
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(tr) to give a definite shape or form to
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logic to extract the logical form of (an expression), to express in the symbols of some formal system
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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formalizesimple
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formalizessimple
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have formalizedperfect
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has formalizedperfect
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am formalizingprogressive
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are formalizingprogressive
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is formalizingprogressive
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have been formalizingperfect progressive
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has been formalizingperfect progressive
Past
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formalizedsimple
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had formalizedperfect
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was formalizingprogressive
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were formalizingprogressive
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had been formalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of formalize
Explanation
To formalize something is to give it an official kind of status, like when you formalize an agreement by signing a contract. Two people can formalize their love and commitment to each other by getting married, and your grandparents can formalize their plan to leave their money to a certain charity by writing a will. In fact, one good way to formalize almost anything is to draw up a legal document. This verb comes from formal and its root that means "a shape or a form."
Vocabulary lists containing formalize
Content Summary 2.3: Greek and Hellenistic States in the Classical Mediterranean
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The Classical Period, c. 600 BCE to c. 600 CE
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The Postclassical Period, c. 600 CE to c. 1450
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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 time may have arrived, judging at least from your letter, to formalize the roles family members and employees have in his life, and that comes with accountability.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
Boeing on Friday added that it was working to formalize a procedure with airlines that would allow pilots to restore automated flight guidance in case the glitch occurs.
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
But the settlements formalize the about face—and come with financial penalties.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
But it would formalize the country’s control over what had been an open international waterway before the war, one that carried a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
He promised he’d formalize the relationship when the time was right.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
An agreement signed Friday formalizes seven tribes as co-managers of the Clear Lake watershed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
This shift largely formalizes what the Biden administration had already been doing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025
While the executive order formalizes a parallel overlay of the federal government in the form of Musk's DOGE, it still does not clearly define its legal status.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2025
The new initiative, announced at the Bloomberg CityLab conference in Washington on Wednesday, formalizes a process that CityLab has used for years.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 18, 2023
He who formalizes on everything is a fool, and a grave fool is perhaps more injurious than a light fool.—Cecil.
From Pearls of Thought by Maturin Murray Ballou
There may have been growing competition over resources, control of movement, and more formalized leadership structures.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
“But he never formalized it as a therapy treatment. Nobody has. Now it’s taking off, it’s definitely rising.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
From the moment the command center had been established at the Rose Bowl, “evacuation operations were not formalized within the incident organization,” according to the report, even as some on-the-ground believed it had been.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
But we did — around the Declaration of Independence and the belief in individual liberty and equality, as formalized in the Bill of Rights.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
Convinced of the essential uselessness of formalized education, he had retreated from civilization.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Mario Carneiro, a younger man who sometimes clashes with Mr. de Moura, possesses an unquenchable passion for formalizing proofs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Abreu lobbied to make El Sistema part of the Venezuelan government, formalizing music education as a human right.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Of note, China has been formalizing a retaliatory option.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
The White House is considering a cybersecurity-focused executive order that could include formalizing a government oversight group to create standards for the most powerful AI models, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Heine had resorted to the formalizing of their union under the pressure of one of those circumstances which compel a man to think more of a woman than of an idea.
From Old Love Stories Retold by Richard Le Gallienne
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
