pro forma
Americanadjective
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according to form; as a matter of form; for the sake of form.
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Commerce. provided in advance of shipment and merely showing the description and quantity of goods shipped without terms of payment.
a pro forma invoice.
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Accounting. indicating hypothetical financial figures based on previous business operations for estimate purposes.
a pro forma balance sheet.
adverb
noun
adjective
adverb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pro forma
First recorded in 1565–75; from Latin prō formā
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.
Devon Energy recently provided its pro forma second-quarter 2026/2026 outlook, which incorporates the Coterra Energy acquisition.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
The IPO for Applied Aerospace, which is a SpaceX supplier, valued the company at about $3.5 billion, or about six times 2025 pro forma sales of $604 million External link.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
The combined entity will have a pro forma market capitalization of about $7.67 billion, and annual gold production estimated at more than 700,000 troy ounces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Judge Summers responded to what’s ordinarily a pro forma motion before handing the case to the jury and, instead, issued what’s known as a directed verdict of acquittal, ending the case single-handedly, then and there.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
But once again the doom and gloom was mostly pro forma.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
