1. formalist - Noun
2. formalist - Adjective
One overattentive to forms, or too much confined to them; esp., one who rests in external religious forms, or observes strictly the outward forms of worship, without possessing the life and spirit of religion.
Source: Webster's dictionaryAbandoned by philosophy, politics, and sociology, historical determinism continues to hold out in formalist art criticism. Harold Rosenberg
When I was young, I thought I was the best formalist of my time. I thought I was a revolutionary. When the big problems would come, I would solve them and write about them. The big problems came and passed by, others solved them and wrote about them. I was a classicist and not a revolutionary. Wolfgang Pauli
According to the formalist, mathematics is manipulation of symbols according to agreed upon formal rules. Source: Internet
A formalist might study how standard Hollywood " continuity editing " creates a more comforting effect and non-continuity or jump cut editing might become more disconcerting or volatile. Source: Internet
The Formalist quibbler will argue that Lowry should remain outside his text, that it must stand on its own merits. Source: Internet
Contemporary construction of a formal theory The following formalist theory is offered as contrast to the logicistic theory of PM. Source: Internet