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formal - 20 thesaurus results
| Main Entry: | formal |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | established, orderly |
| Synonyms: | academic, approved, ceremonial, ceremonious, confirmed, conventional, decorous, directed, explicit, express, fixed, lawful, legal, methodical, official, precise, prescribed, pro forma, proper, punctilious, regular, rigid, ritual, ritualistic, set, solemn, stately, stereotyped, strict, systematic, ceremonialistic, formalistic, stereotypical |
| Antonyms: | disorderly, informal, relaxed |
| Main Entry: | formal |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | stiff, affected, correct |
| Synonyms: | aloof, by the numbers*, ceremonious, conventional, decorous, distant, exact, nominal, polite, precise, prim, punctilious, reserved, seemly, sententious, stilted*, straight arrow*, stuffy*, unbending, playing the game, starched |
| Antonyms: | customary, informal, normal, unaffected, relaxed |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | courtly |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | refined manner |
| Synonyms: | affable, aristocratic, august, ceremonious, chivalrous, civil, civilized, complimentary, conventional, cultured, decorous, dignified, elegant, flattering, formal, gallant, gracious, imposing, lofty, obliging, polished, polite, prim, refined, stately, studied, urbane, adulatory, high-bred, preux |
| Antonyms: | impolite, indecorous, inelegant, provincial, rough, uncivil, unpolished, unrefined, low-bred |
| Main Entry: | decorous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | appropriate, suitable |
| Synonyms: | au fait, becoming, befitting, ceremonial, ceremonious, civilized, comely, conforming, conventional, correct, de rigueur, decent, demure, dignified, done, elegant, fit, fitting, formal, good, mannerly, meet, moral, nice, polite, prim, proper, punctilious, refined, respectable, right, seasonable, sedate, seemly, staid, well-behaved, comme il faut |
| Antonyms: | impolite, inappropriate, indecent, indecorous, unbecoming, unfit, unrefined, unseemly, unsuitable |
| Main Entry: | dignified |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | honorable |
| Synonyms: | aristocratic, august, courtly, decorous, distinguished, distingué, eminent, formal, grand, grave, great, highbrow*, highfalutin', imperial, imperious, lofty, magisterial, magnificent, nifty*, noble, proud, refined, regal, reserved, respected, solemn, somber, stately, superior, upright |
| Antonyms: | dishonorable, indecorous, undignified |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | genteel |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | sophisticated, cultured |
| Synonyms: | affected, aristocratic, artificial, chivalrous, civil, confined, courteous, courtly, elegant, fashionable, formal, graceful, hollow, intolerant, mannerly, noble, ostentatious, polished, polite, pompous, precious, pretentious, priggish, prim, prissy, prudish, refined, respectable, straitlaced, stuffy*, stylish, urbane, well-behaved, well-bred, well-mannered, cultivated, distingué, la-di-da |
| Notes: | genteel means marked by refinement in taste and manners; a gentile is a person who does not acknowledge your God or denotes a Christian as contrasted with a Jew; gentle means soft and mild or having or showing a kindly or tender nature |
| Antonyms: | boorish, callous, rough, rude, rugged, uncultured, unrefined, unsophisticated |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | impersonal |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | cold, unfriendly |
| Synonyms: | abstract, businesslike, candid, cold turkey*, cold-blooded*, colorless, cool, detached, disinterested, dispassionate, emotionless, equal, equitable, fair, formal, impartial, indifferent, inhuman, neutral, objective, remote, straight, unbiased, bureaucratic, nondiscriminatory, poker-faced*, strictly business, uncolored, unpassioned |
| Antonyms: | friendly, informal, personable, personal, warm |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | literary |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | concerning books |
| Synonyms: | bookish, classical, erudite, formal, learned, lettered, literate, scholarly, well-read, belletristic |
| Antonyms: | illiterate |
| Main Entry: | official |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | authorized, legitimate |
| Synonyms: | accredited, approved, authentic, authoritative, bona fide, canonical, cathedral, ceremonious, cleared, conclusive, correct, customary, decided, decisive, definite, endorsed, established, ex officio, fitting, formal, legitimate, licensed, okay*, ordered, orthodox, positive, precise, proper, real, recognized, rightful, sanctioned, suitable, true, valid, authenticated, certified, ex cathedra |
| Antonyms: | unauthorized, unofficial, unsanctioned |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | pedantic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | bookish, precise |
| Synonyms: | abstruse, academic, arid, didactic, doctrinaire, dry, dull, egotistic, erudite, formal, fussy, hairsplitting*, learned, ostentatious, particular, pedagogic, pompous, priggish*, punctilious, scholastic, sententious, stilted, donnish, nit-picking, overnice, schoolish |
| Antonyms: | informal, imprecise |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | prim |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | particular, fussy |
| Synonyms: | Victorian, ceremonial, ceremonious, choosy, cleanly, conventional, correct, dapper*, decorous, demure, fastidious, formal, genteel, good, goody-goody*, nice, orderly, polite, precise, priggish, prissy, proper, prudish, puritanical, rigid, shipshape*, spruce, stiff, straight, strait-laced, stuffy*, tidy, upright, well-groomed, wooden*, blue-nose, nit-picking, overmodest, spic-and-span*, stickling, uncluttered |
| Antonyms: | informal, rumpled |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | punctilious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | careful, finicky |
| Synonyms: | ceremonious, conscientious, conventional, exact, formal, fussy, heedful, meticulous, nice, observant, painstaking, particular, persnickety, precise, proper, punctual, scrupulous, strict, conscionable, formalistic, good eye, overconscientious, overscrupulous, right on |
| Antonyms: | careless, informal, uncaring, easy-going |
| Main Entry: | so-called |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | supposed |
| Synonyms: | alleged, allegedly, formal, nominal, ostensible, pretended, professed, commonly named, itular, purported, self-named, self-styled, soi-disant, wrongly named |
| Main Entry: | staid |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | restrained, set |
| Synonyms: | calm, collected, composed, cool, decorous, demure, dignified, earnest, formal, grave, no-nonsense*, quiet, sedate, serious, settled, sober, solemn, somber, starchy, steady, stuffy, weighty, cold sober, self-restrained |
| Antonyms: | adventurous, frivolous, fun, sporting, willing |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | stately |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dignified, impressive |
| Synonyms: | august, ceremonial, ceremonious, conventional, courtly, deliberate, elegant, elevated, formal, gallant, gracious, grand, grandiose, haughty, high, high-minded*, imperial, imperious, imposing, kingly, large, lofty, luxurious, magnificent, majestic, massive, measured, monumental, noble, opulent, palatial, pompous, portly, proud, regal, royal, solemn, stiff, sumptuous, superb, towering, highfaluting*, queenly |
| Antonyms: | common, ignoble, informal, undignified, unimpressive, unstately |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | stilted |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | artificial, pretentious |
| Synonyms: | affected, angular, aureate, bombastic, decorous, egotistic, flowery, forced, formal, genteel, grandiloquent, high-flown, inflated, labored, magniloquent, mincing, overblown, pedantic, pompous, prim, rhetorical, sonorous, stiff, unnatural, wooden, constrained, euphuistic, high-sounding |
| Antonyms: | genuine, honest, true |
| Main Entry: | stock |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | commonplace |
| Synonyms: | banal, basic, common, conventional, customary, dull, established, formal, hackneyed, normal, ordinary, regular, routine, run-of-the-mill*, set, standard, staple, stereotyped, traditional, trite, typical, usual, worn-out, overused |
| Antonyms: | different, original, unusual |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | stodgy |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dull, stuffy |
| Synonyms: | boring, dim, dreary, formal, heavy, labored, monotonous, pedantic, pedestrian, ponderous, staid, tedious, turgid, unexciting, unimaginative, uninspired, uninteresting, weighty, banausic, plodding |
| Antonyms: | adventurous, exciting, ready, willing |
| Main Entry: | unbending |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | rigid, tough |
| Synonyms: | aloof, crisp, distant, do or die, dug in, firm, formal, hard as nails, hard-line*, hold one's ground, hold the fort, hold the line, incompliant, inelastic, inexorable, inflexible, intractable, locked in, obdurate, obstinate, relentless, reserved, resolute, set in stone, severe, single-minded, standing one's ground, standing pat, sticking to one's guns, stiff, strict, stubborn, uncompromising, unflexible, unrelenting, unswayable, unyielding, uptight |
| Antonyms: | bending, flexible, pliable, pliant, relaxed, soft |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | dressed up |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dressed formally |
| Synonyms: | dolled up, dressed to kill, dressed to the nines*, fashionable, formal, gussied up, in full dress, in one's best bib and tucker, ornate, spruced up |
* = informal/non-formal usage
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
