I’m not sure how formative and formidable can be confused, but when people write about their formidable years growing up, one expects to read about child abuse. Now in one’s formative years growing up, there is usually a series of person(s) or events that formed the child into the adult.
Formative is all about development, the formation and subsequent growth of something. A positive.
Formidable inspires fear or awe due to size, strength, or some other impressive feature.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Formative | Formidable |
|---|---|
 — |
 — |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Adjective; Noun
Plural for noun: formative |
Adjective |
| Adjective: Serving to form, shape, mold, fashion something, especially having a profound and lasting influence on a person’s development
[Biology] Capable of developing new cells or tissue by cell division and differentiation
[Grammar] Pertaining to a formative Noun: [Linguistics; in generative grammar] Any element, as a word, affix, or inflectional ending, functioning as a minimal syntactic unit that can be used in forming larger constructions [Grammar] An inflectional or derivational affix, particularly one that determines the part of speech of the derived word, as
|
Adjective: Inspiring fear, apprehension, dread, or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable Of discouraging or awesome strength, size, difficulty, etc.
Arousing feelings of awe or admiration because of grandeur, strength, etc. Of great strength
|
| Examples: | |
| Adjective: They were his formative years. She spent her formative years in Africa. Continual formative assessment of student understanding through observation, student questioning, and written assignments helps teachers decide how well students are doing. Parents just need to survive the formative years of adolescence. Rape is quite the formative experience. “In each bundle, separating the xylem and phloem, is a layer of meristem or active formative tissue known as cambium” (Formative). He was doglike in his devotion. The same formative cells form two types of bone formation and the final structure is not much different” (Setiawati). In humans, prenatal and antenatal development encompasses the formative period of the embryo through the development of a fetus to birth. Noun: Different formatives may be customary depending on the verb from which the action nominal derives. Of course I didn’t want to open my eyes and be confronted with that loudness so I pretended to stay asleep. People have been complaining about the hardness of the chairs. She performed gracefully. |
Adjective: He was a formidable opponent. He could become a formidable problem. Yet for a chef who shoots from the mouth, Ramsay inspires formidable loyalty. The shipbuilders have been playing well and are formidable opponents for anyone on their own patch. The first game after the enforced break was a tough encounter against formidable opponents. That brings a formidable new dimension to the conflict, further magnified by its global scale. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: nonformative Adverb: formatively, nonformatively Noun: formativeness |
Adjective: nonformidable Adverb: formidably Noun: formidableness, formidability, nonformidability |
| History of the Word: | |
| Late 15th century from the Old French formatif + |
Late Middle English from the French, or from the Latin formidabilis, from formidare meaning to fear. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
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Resources for Formative versus Formidable
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Apple Dictionary.com
Cambridge Dictionary: formative
Dictionary.com: formative
“Formative Tissue in a Sentence.” Native English. n.d. Web. 4 Sept 2021. <https://eng.ichacha.net/zaoju/formative%20tissue.html>.
Garner, Bryan. Garner’s Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press, 2016. <https://bit.ly/3l3spVr>.
Lexico.com: formative, hardness, loudness, formidable
Setiawati, Rosy and Paulos Rahardojo. “Bone Development and Growth.” 14 Dec 2018. Web. 4 Sept 2021. <https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/64747>.
“What is the Difference Between Formative and Formidable?” Explain Questions. n.d. Web. 8 Sept 2021. <https://explainqn.com/formative-vs-formidable/>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Formidable Perimeter Wall, County Hall, near to Carmarthen/Caerfyrddin, Carmarthenshire/Sir Gaerfyrddin, Great Britain, by Jaggery is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Geograph.org.uk.
Revised as of 12 Apr 2024
By: Kathy Davie