formalism

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun the doctrine that formal structure rather than content is what should be represented
noun (philosophy) the philosophical theory that formal (logical or mathematical) statements have no meaning but that its symbols (regarded as physical entities) exhibit a form that has useful applications
noun the practice of scrupulous adherence to prescribed or external forms

From formal + -ism.

Have you not made home cold to him by this formalism? — The Entailed Hat; Or, Patty Cannon's Times, George Alfred Townsend
At times we grew angry with each other's formalism, came near to quarrelling.... — The Passionate Friends, H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
The most remarkable result of modern methods in mathematics is the importance of symbolic logic and of rigid formalism. — Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays, Bertrand Russell

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