[f. as prec. + -NESS.] The quality of being formal.
1684. H. More, Answer, 24. In the same Moral sense he still farther upbraids them, that though he, by the searching rebukes of his spirit, knocks at the door of their Consciences to awaken them out of their remisness and litherly formalness.
1727. Bailey, vol. II. Formalness, ceremony, affectation.
1839. M. Montagu, trans. Song of the Bell, Notes, 109. Where the subject is of dignity and with a sustained interest, it seems there should be a corresponding formalness in the verse, which otherwise does not prepare the ear for the recurrence—however arranged—of both the cadence and the rhyme.
1890. Pall Mall G., 4 Oct., 2/3. An altogether unnecessary formalness of design in his studies for scratched plaster work.
