form
noun · verb
Simple meaning
To do with shape.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fawrmIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɔɹm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
headingphysical
To do with shape.
headingphysical
The shape or visible structure of a thing or person.
headingphysical
A thing that gives shape to other things as in a mold.
A perceptual structure
“The composition presents problems for students of musical form.”
Characteristics not involving atomic components.
Established method of expression or practice; fixed way of proceeding; conventional or stated scheme; formula.
verb
transitive
To assume (a certain shape or visible structure).
transitive
To give (a shape or visible structure) to a thing or person.
intransitive
To take shape.
To put together or bring into being; assemble.
transitive
To constitute, to compose, to make up.
To mould or model by instruction or discipline.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (heading, physical) To do with shape.
Used this way, form is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use form
- “Sculpture is a form of art.”noun
- “He filled out his tax form.”noun
- “The essay was in the form of a dialogue.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Referring to the first of two things or persons mentioned (or the earlier one or ones of several).
Having or given a form or shape.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
An arrangement of people or things acting as a unit.
Being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements (as e.g. of formal dress).
With official authorization.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An artificial taxonomic category for organisms of which the true relationships are obscure.
One of the traditional categories of words intended to reflect their functions in a grammatical context.
Become bubbly or frothy or foaming.
The members of a social organization who are in power.
An identifying appellation signifying status or function: e.g. `Mr.' or `General'.
A letter that is printed in multiple copies and mailed to a list of recipients.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Concerned with or characterized by rigorous adherence to recognized forms (especially in religion or art).
Any logical system that abstracts the form of statements away from their content in order to establish abstract criteria of consistency and validity.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.