Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

formal

UK /ˈfɔːməl/ · US /ˈfɔɹməl/ adjective, noun

Forms formals

  1. adjective In accordance with established forms. “She spoke formal English, without any dialect.”
  2. adjective Official. “I'd like to make a formal complaint.”
  3. adjective Relating to the form or structure of something. “Formal linguistics ignores the vocabulary of languages and focuses solely on their grammar.”
  4. adjective Relating to formation. “The formal stage is a critical part of any child's development.”
  5. adjective Ceremonial or traditional. “Formal wear must be worn at my wedding!”
  6. adjective Proper, according to strict etiquette; not casual. “He's always very formal, and I wish he'd relax a bit.”
  7. adjective Organized; well-structured and planned. “When they became a formal club the rowers built a small boathouse.”
  8. adjective (especially sciences, mathematics, linguistics) In accordance with a methodological framework with well-defined rules or laws; rigorous. “Despite efforts by limnologists and freshwater biologists to create a formal definition of “pond”, there is still no universal distinction between a “pond” and a “lake”.”
  9. noun (clothing) An evening gown.
  10. noun An event with a formal dress code. “Jenny took Sam to her Year 12 formal.”
  11. noun (programming) A formal parameter.
  12. noun (uncountable) Formalin.
  13. noun An acetal formed from formaldehyde.

Synonyms

ball dinner dress dinner gown evening gown conventional schematic courtly stately

Antonyms

informal

Etymology

From Middle English formel, borrowed from Old French formel, from Latin fōrmālis, from fōrma (“form”); equivalent to form + -al.

See formo-.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Belonging to the form, shape, frame, external appearance, or organization of a thing.
  2. adjective Belonging to the constitution of a thing, as distinguished from the matter composing it; having the power of making a thing what it is; constituent; essential; pertaining to oe depending on the forms, so called of the human intellect.

Etymology [L. formalis: cf. F. formel.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “formal”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “formal” (best matches first).