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Formal vs Customary - What's the difference?

formal | customary | Synonyms |

Formal is a synonym of customary.


As nouns the difference between formal and customary

is that formal is an objective while customary is a book containing laws and usages, or customs; a custumal.

As an adjective customary is

agreeing with, or established by, custom; established by common usage; conventional; habitual.

formal

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Being in accord with established forms.
  • :
  • Official.
  • :
  • Relating to the form or structure of something.
  • :
  • *
  • Relating to formation.
  • :
  • Ceremonial.
  • :(rfquote-sense)
  • Proper, according to strict etiquette; not casual.
  • :
  • Organized; well-structured and planned.
  • :
  • (mathematics) Relating to mere manipulation and construction of strings of symbols, without regard to their meaning.
  • :
  • Antonyms

    * informal

    Derived terms

    * formal cause * formalize * formalist * formalism * formality

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Formalin.
  • An evening gown.
  • An event with a formal dress code.
  • Jenny took Sam to her Year 12 formal .

    customary

    English

    Noun

    (customaries)
  • A book containing laws and usages, or customs; a custumal.
  • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Agreeing with, or established by, custom; established by common usage; conventional; habitual.
  • *
  • *:At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors.In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.
  • Holding or held by custom; as, customary tenants; customary service or estate.
  • *1777 , Joseph Nicolson and Richard Burn, The history and antiquities of the counties of Westmorland and Cumberland
  • *:The tenants are chiefly customary and heriotable.
  • Quotations

    * 1956 — , The City and the Stars , p 39 *: When two people met for the first time in Diaspar—or even for the hundredth—it was customary to spend an hour or so in an exchange or courtesies before getting down to business, if any.

    Synonyms

    *

    Derived terms

    * customarily