formalist

From formal +‎ -ist.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɹml̩ˌɪst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

formalist (plural formalists)

1. An overly formal person, especially one who adheres to current forms; a stickler
   • 2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music, Stories, Anecdotes, Articles and Reflections, page 225:

     The Besht preached that the simple man, imbued with native faith and able to pray fervently and wholeheartedly with a sense of joy in his heart, was nearer and dearer to God than the learned but joyless formalist spending his whole life in the study of Talmud.

2. An advocate of formalism

formalist (comparative more formalist, superlative most formalist)

1. Of or pertaining to formalism; formalistic

• formalistic

• formalism

• “formalist”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “formalist”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• "formalist" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 137.

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: for‧ma‧list

formalist m (plural formalisten, diminutive formalistje n)

1. formalist

Borrowed from French formaliste.

formalist m or n (feminine singular formalistă, masculine plural formaliști, feminine and neuter plural formaliste)

1. formalistic

• formàlista (Bosnia, Serbia)

From fȏrma.

• IPA^(key): /formǎlist/
• Hyphenation: for‧ma‧list

formàlist m anim (Cyrillic spelling форма̀лист)

1. formalist

• “formalist”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025