1. (

• ball ,
• formal

) a lavish dance requiring formal attire ;

2. (

• dinner_dress ,
• dinner_gown ,
• formal ,
• evening_gown

) a gown for evening wear ;

1. (

• formal ,

) being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements (as e.g. of formal dress); "pay one's formal respects"; "formal dress"; "a formal ball"; "the requirement was only formal and often ignored"; "a formal education" ;

2. (

• formal

) characteristic of or befitting a person in authority; "formal duties"; "an official banquet" ;

3. (

• formal ,

) (of spoken and written language) adhering to traditional standards of correctness and without casual, contracted, and colloquial forms; "the paper was written in formal English" ;

4. (

• conventional ,
• formal ,
• schematic

) represented in simplified or symbolic form ;

5. (

• formal

) logically deductive; "formal proof" ;

6. (

• courtly ,
• formal ,
• stately

) refined or imposing in manner or appearance; befitting a royal court; "a courtly gentleman" ;