well-formed

[ wel-fawrmd ]

adjective

1. rightly or pleasingly formed:

   a well-formed contour.

2. Linguistics. (of an utterance) conforming to the rules of a language; grammatical ( ill-formed ).

well-formed

adjective

1. logic linguistics (of a formula, expression, etc) constructed in accordance with the syntactic rules of a particular system; grammatically correct

Derived Forms

• well-formedness, noun

Other Words From

• well-form·ed·ness [wel, -, fawr, -mid-nis, -, fawrmd, -], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of well-formed¹

First recorded in 1510–20

Example Sentences

I gave some examples of bad design and showed a picture of an infant with a well-formed tail to illustrate one example.

From The Daily Beast

Black curls, tiny well formed hands and feet, and a sweet face that I can clearly remember today all these years later.

From The Daily Beast

He was good-looking, as far as regularity of features and a well-formed figure went, but mentally not much to boast of.

From Project Gutenberg

Carlson went to his desk, sat down, stuck a slim cigar in his well formed lips.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a pleasant face, sun-bronzed and well-formed, with waving brown hair and eyes that could be gentle and compassionate.

From Project Gutenberg

The tobacco fields are faithfully tended, and the utmost pains taken to secure large, well-formed leaves.

From Project Gutenberg

His nose was large and aquiline, his mouth from his lips thin, and his chin well formed and powerful.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• grammatical