- strict or excessive attention to or insistence on outward forms, as in art, or established traditions, as in religion
- an instance of this
- Rigorous or excessive adherence to recognized forms, as in religion or art.
- An instance of rigorous or excessive adherence to recognized forms.
- A method of aesthetic analysis that emphasizes structural elements and artistic techniques rather than content, especially in literary works.
(countable and uncountable, plural formalisms)
- Strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice etc.
- (computing) One of several alternative computational paradigms for a given theory.
- (literature) An approach to interpretation and/or evaluation focused on the (usually linguistic) structure of a literary work rather than on the contexts of its origin or reception.
- (music) The tendency to elevate formal above expressive value in music, as in serialism.
- (mathematics, physics) A particular mathematical or scientific theory or description of a given state or effect.
From formal + -ism.