Formal or informal?
formal is an adjective meaning “In accordance with established forms”; informal is an adjective meaning “Not formal or ceremonious”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) formal is about 3.8 times as common as informal.
What is the difference between formal and informal?
| formal | informal | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun | adjective |
| Meaning | In accordance with established forms Official An evening gown | Not formal or ceremonious Not in accord with the usual regulations |
| Example | She spoke formal English, without any dialect | an informal get-together |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfɔɹməl/ /ˈfɔːməl/ | /ɪnˈfɔː.m(ə)l/ /ɪnˈfɔɹ.m(ə)l/ |
| In writing | 28 times per million words | 7.4 times per million words |
Sources: formal and informal in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of formal and informal
formal
- 1
In accordance with established forms
She spoke formal English, without any dialect
- 2
An evening gown
- 3
Formalin
- 4
Official
I'd like to make a formal complaint
- 5
An event with a formal dress code
Jenny took Sam to her Year 12 formal
- 6
An acetal formed from formaldehyde
- 7
Relating to the form or structure of something
Formal linguistics ignores the vocabulary of languages and focuses solely on their grammar
- 8
A formal parameter
informal
- 1
Not formal or ceremonious
an informal get-together
- 2
Not in accord with the usual regulations
an informal agreement
- 3
Suited for everyday use
informal clothes
- 4
Reflecting everyday, non-ceremonious usage
- 5
Not organized; not structured or planned
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, formal or informal?
formal appears 28 times per million words; informal 7.4 times per million words.
formal 28 times per million wordsinformal 7.4 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search formal vs informal?
“formal vs informal” is searched about 2,400 times a month on Google and 110 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“informal vs formal”, “formal or informal”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.