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Etymology
Origin of formulaic
Explanation
Anything formulaic follows a formula or pattern, especially in a mechanical, by-the-numbers way. A formulaic TV show is predictable and probably similar to lots of other shows. Have you ever noticed how many songs are similar to others? When a song is almost identical to previous songs and it’s not very original at all, it's formulaic. This word usually conveys a lack of imagination. If you call a movie formulaic, you're saying it's so much like other movies that it probably didn't need to be made. A formulaic speech follows a pattern that's been used many times before. The opposite of formulaic is original.
Vocabulary lists containing formulaic
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.
“They’re often dry, formulaic and almost meaningless. It’s better if you tell your own story.”
From MarketWatch • May 19, 2026
While these celebrity docs are hagiographic and formulaic, the interviews with Nadal and family and rivals like Federer and Novak Djokovic do push beyond the surface.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
AI-generated singers routinely rank among the top-streamed country music artists in the United States -- a trend that for now is limited to a genre that industry observers fear is becoming too formulaic.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
Would Ms. Blume have broken out in today’s oligopolistic publishing market, with its formulaic approach to commercial success?
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
Visual analysis can help us to appreciate the beauty of a masterpiece, but we must be careful not to use a formulaic approach that would trivialize it.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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.
