formaliste

\fɔʁ.ma.list\

/\fɔʁ.ma.list\/ adj

The verdict

“formaliste” is uncommon French (frequency #82,963 among 3,276 “F” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,963
frequency rank, French
3,276
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui s’attache scrupuleusement aux formes, aux formalités.

Corpus desk

Index FR-formaliste · formaliste · French

formaliste · rank #82,963 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,963
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,276
  • PHOTO-FINISH Fontan

Nearest frequency peer: Fontan (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « formaliste »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « formaliste » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for formaliste
PropertyValue
Headwordformaliste
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\fɔʁ.ma.list\
Letters10
Frequency rank#82,963
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « formaliste » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).formalistetombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « Fontan » (#82,962), « fouettez » (#82,964), « flottage » (#82,958). Parmi 3,276 lemmes en « F », « formaliste » est au #82,963. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

formaliste is uncommon French at frequency #82,963 among 3,276 “F” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \fɔʁ.ma.list\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for formaliste in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is formaliste, spelled F-O-R-M-A-L-I-S-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui s’attache scrupuleusement aux formes, aux formalités.
  2. 2
    Contraire aux canons du réalisme socialiste soviétique.
  3. 3
    Qui est vétilleux dans les moindres choses.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how formaliste appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Les théories élevées et absolues de la philosophie parisienne venaient échouer contre le bons sens fortement carré de l'esprit comtois et les habitudes formalistes de l'esprit parlementaire.
  2. La loi salique en son titre XLVI nous décrit minutieusement les rites formalistes de l'institution, rites antérieurs aux invasions, semble-t-il.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "formaliste"?
"formaliste" is spelled F-O-R-M-A-L-I-S-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is \fɔʁ.ma.list\.
What does "formaliste" mean?
As an adjective, "formaliste" means: Qui s’attache scrupuleusement aux formes, aux formalités.
How do you pronounce "formaliste"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "formaliste" is \fɔʁ.ma.list\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "formaliste" come from?
"formaliste" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "formaliste", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list