n.1 a excessive adherence to prescribed forms. b the use of forms without regard to inner significance.
2 derog. an artist's concentration on form at the expense of content.
3 the treatment of mathematics as a manipulation of meaningless symbols.
4 Theatr. a symbolic and stylized manner of production.
5 Physics & Math. the mathematical description of a physical situation etc.
Derivatives:
formalist n. formalistic adj.