What's the difference between formal and informal?

Formal


Definition:

  • (n.) See Methylal.
  • (a.) Belonging to the form, shape, frame, external appearance, or organization of a thing.
  • (a.) 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 or depending on the forms, so called, of the human intellect.
  • (a.) Done in due form, or with solemnity; according to regular method; not incidental, sudden or irregular; express; as, he gave his formal consent.
  • (a.) Devoted to, or done in accordance with, forms or rules; punctilious; regular; orderly; methodical; of a prescribed form; exact; prim; stiff; ceremonious; as, a man formal in his dress, his gait, his conversation.
  • (a.) Having the form or appearance without the substance or essence; external; as, formal duty; formal worship; formal courtesy, etc.
  • (a.) Dependent in form; conventional.
  • (a.) Sound; normal.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) We present the analysis both formally and in geometric terms and show how it leads to a general algorithm for the optimization of NMR excitation schemes.
  • (2) If Lagarde had been placed under formal investigation in the Tapie case, it would have risked weakening her position and further embarrassing both the IMF and France by heaping more judicial worries on a key figure on the international stage.
  • (3) The appointment of the mayor of London's brother, who formally becomes a Cabinet Office minister, is one of a series of moves designed to strengthen the political operation in Downing Street and to patch up the prime minister's frayed links with the Conservative party.
  • (4) Eleven per cent of the courses that responded provided no formal substance misuse training.
  • (5) However ITV deny that any approach or offer, formal or informal, has been made.
  • (6) The wives and girlfriends who were originally invited to accompany their playing partners on the World Cup tour have had their invitations formally rescinded.
  • (7) This formalism allows resolution of the intrinsic protein folding-unfolding parameters (enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity changes) as well as the ligand interaction parameters (binding stoichiometry, enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity changes).
  • (8) This demonstrates a considerable range in surgeons' attitudes to day surgery despite its formal endorsement by professional bodies, and identifies what are perceived as the organizational and clinical barriers to its wider introduction.
  • (9) Children as young as 18 months start by sliding on tiny skis in soft supple boots, while over-threes have more formal lessons in the snow playground.
  • (10) Britain and France formally announced this week they would abstain, along with Portugal and Bosnia.
  • (11) After the formal PIRC inquiry was triggered by the lord advocate, Frank Mulholland, Bayoh’s family said police gave them five different accounts of what had happened before eventually being told late on Sunday afternoon how he died.
  • (12) Instituut voor Sociale Geneeskunde, Vrije Universiteit (The process of directing self-care, informal and formal assistance).
  • (13) He was greeted in Kyoto by Abe, with the men dispensing with the formal handshake that starts most head of governments' greetings in favour of a full body hug.
  • (14) A formal notion of relatability is defined, specifying which physically given edges leading into discontinuities can be connected to others by interpolated edges.
  • (15) Formal audits of the continuing medical education activities of physicians licensed in Michigan were undertaken to assess compliance with a law mandating participation in 150 hours of continuing medical education each 3 years.
  • (16) His central focus was on the neutrality of government rules – or what he called (on p117), "the Rule of Law, in the sense of the rule of formal law, the absence of legal privileges of particular people designated by authority" – not the elimination of government rules: "The liberal argument is in favor of making the best possible use of the forces of competition as a means of coordinating human efforts, not an argument for leaving things just as they are."
  • (17) The Washington Post report is the latest in a flurry of unattributed articles suggesting that the Justice Department is unlikely to take up formal charges against Assange.
  • (18) The government will formally begin the sale of Royal Mail on Thursday by announcing its intention to float the 497-year-old postal service on the London Stock Exchange.
  • (19) His formal entry into the contest marks a key moment in the nascent race for the Republican nomination, which is set to be the most congested presidential primary either party has held since 1976.
  • (20) The formal results of the analysis show that when psychological considerations are incorporated into a state-dependent utility model, the normative results customarily obtained concerning value-of-life need to be qualified.

Informal


Definition:

  • (a.) Not in the regular, usual, or established form; not according to official, conventional, prescribed, or customary forms or rules; irregular; hence, without ceremony; as, an informal writting, proceeding, or visit.
  • (a.) Deranged in mind; out of one's senses.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) A former Labour minister, Nicholas Brown, said the public were frightened they "were going to be spied on" and that "illegally obtained" information would find its way to the public domain.
  • (2) The pattern of the stressor that causes a change in the pitch can be often identified only tentatively, if there is no additional information.
  • (3) Parents of subjects at the experimental school were visited at home by a community health worker who provided individualized information on dental services and preventive strategies.
  • (4) Past imaging techniques shown in the courtroom have made the conventional rules of evidence more difficult because of the different informational content and format required for presentation of these data.
  • (5) Suggested is a carefully prepared system of cycling videocassettes, to effect the dissemination of current medical information from leading medical centers to medical and paramedical people in the "bush".
  • (6) As the requirements to store and display these images increase, the following questions become important: (a) What methods can be used to ensure that information given to the physician represents the originally acquired data?
  • (7) As important providers of health care education, nurses need to be fully informed of the research findings relevant to effective interventions designed to motivate health-related behavior change.
  • (8) The purpose of this paper is to discuss the potential for integrating surveillance techniques in reproductive epidemiology with geographic information system technology in order to identify populations at risk around hazardous waste sites.
  • (9) They suggest that an endogenous retinoid could contribute to positional information in the early Xenopus embryo.
  • (10) The control group received the same information in lecture form.
  • (11) Ofcom will conduct research, such as mystery shopping, to assess the transparency of contractual information given to customers by providers at the point of sale".
  • (12) Much of the current information concerning this issue is from short-term studies.
  • (13) In addition, despite the fact that the differences constitutes an information bias, the bias occurs in the same direction and magnitude in all the various subgroups and thus is nondifferential.
  • (14) Current information suggests that arachidonic acid metabolites are involved in the development of cholecystitis.
  • (15) The presence of CR-related activity suggests that SpoV may participate in the CR motor output pathway, and may also provide CR-related information to cerebellum.
  • (16) Employed method of observation gave quantitative information about the influence of odours on ratios of basic predeterminate activities, insect distribution pattern and their tendency to choose zones with an odour.
  • (17) Much information has accumulated on the isolation and characterization of a heterogeneous group of molecules that inhibit one or more of the bioactivities of interleukin 1.
  • (18) This can be achieved by sincere, periodic information through the mass media.
  • (19) Then, the informed permission of parents should be obtained.
  • (20) This technology will provide better information to the surgeon for preoperative diagnosis and planning and for the design of customized implants.