a shape having an irregular contour, chiefly used in nonrepresentational art and industrial design.
Linguistics. a linguistic form that can occur by itself, as fire, book, or run.
characterized by free form.
free-form sculpture.
not organized or planned in a conventional way.
a free-form international conglomerate.
encouraged to function or evolve without advance planning; spontaneous.
free-form management.
First recorded in 1945–50
First recorded in 1950–55
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Slab pies and galettes are rustic and free form, but that doesn't mean they're ugly.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2021
It was definitely free form, even in El Segundo, where Ian danced for the camera, and Adam grabbed the big cake knife and mussed his mother’s carefully pinned, self-styled hair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2020
Many were drawn to slam poetry’s free form, which rewards wordplay and can be less intimidating for those with no formal education.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 28, 2018
For one moment, there is only the molten dawn sun lighting the sky a poet red and the air racing cooly past him as he drops in free form flight.
From Slate ● Feb. 19, 2018
This free form of government, this popular assembly--the common council for the common good--where have we contemplated its earliest models?
From Mosaics of Grecian History by Willson, Marcius
It is a free-form essay in concrete and glass, with no formal entrance, no front or back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The games people make will also have to meet suitability criteria, and those which include social or free-form elements will not be default-available on the Kids and Select accounts.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
The free-form jazz in the film makes the atmosphere almost farcical, a choice that feels even more strange when Bong introduces the apartment complex’s janitor, who has a taste for dog meat.
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2025
But this also led to more free-form experimentation where the musicians could really express themselves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2025
The woman who'd let us in was mixing drinks behind a handsome free-form bar which was large enough to have graced a night club.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
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.
