conformity

American  

[kuhn-fawr-mi-tee] / kənˈfɔr mɪ ti /

noun

plural

conformities

1. action in accord with prevailing social standards, attitudes, practices, etc.

2. correspondence in form, nature, or character; agreement, congruity, or accordance.

3. compliance or acquiescence; obedience.

4. (often initial capital letter) compliance with the usages of an established church, especially the Church of England.

5. Geology. the relationship between adjacent conformable strata.

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conformity British  

/ kənˈfɔːmɪtɪ /

noun

1. compliance in actions, behaviour, etc, with certain accepted standards or norms

2. correspondence or likeness in form or appearance; congruity; agreement

3. compliance with the practices of an established church

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conformity Cultural  

1. Agreement between an individual's behavior and a group's standards or expectations. A conformist is one who follows the majority's desires or standards. (See also beatniks, bureaucrat, organization man (see also organization man), peer group, and peer pressure.)

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Other Word Forms

• anticonformity noun
• hyperconformity noun
• preconformity noun
• semiconformity noun
• superconformity noun

Etymology

Origin of conformity

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English conformite, from Middle French, from Late Latin confōrmitās; equivalent to conform + -ity

Explanation

If all your friends wear jeans to school and you wear checkered slacks, you could say you reject conformity — doing the same thing as everyone else. Conformity usually refers to people's behavior or looks, but it can also be used to describe something that matches the form of something else — for example, a one-story house built in conformity to the low-slung buildings that surround it. It's common for conformity to follow the word in.

Example Sentences

Likewise, many well-known geniuses like Billy Wilder, Otto Preminger and Fritz Lang, who were chased out of Europe by the Nazis, brilliantly exposed the hypocrisies and soul deadening conformity of mainstream American culture.

From Salon • Jan. 1, 2026

The director of research for office-furnishings maker Herman Miller designed the workstation to combat corporate monotony and conformity, even though his creation became associated with it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 26, 2025

The family argued that their rights, which requires the State providing education to "respect the right of parents to ensure such education is in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions", had been contravened.

From BBC • Nov. 19, 2025

Unforced but ever-present in Reichardt’s mise-en-scène, they remind us that this bored aesthete’s misadventure is an especially empty way to buck conformity.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2025

Whence all this passion toward conformity anyway?—diversity is the word.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

Related Words

• obedience