ceremonial

ceremonial adj Ceremonial, ceremonious, formal, conventional, solemn are comparable when they mean char-acterized or marked by attention to the forms, procedures, and details prescribed as right, proper, or requisite.

Both ceremonial and ceremonious imply strict attention to and regard for what is prescribed by the etiquette or tradition of a court or of polite society, by the ritual of a church, or by the formalities of the law for a ceremony or a proceeding. They are sometimes interchangeable

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Duncan dropped back, whether from reverence or ridicule his father had never discovered, into the ceremonial usages of the past— Glasgow

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an age in which no lady was too frail to attend a play alone . .. seemed to her, on the whole, better worth living in than the ceremonious era that had witnessed her fall— Glasgow

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its worship is not highly ceremonious— Shepherd

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but more often ceremonial distinctively suggests the existence of and conformance to an elaborate, prescribed, and usually ritualistic code of procedures, while ceremonious stresses elaborate, often punctilious and dignified procedures or, in reference to persons, a tendency to formality and ceremony; thus, a wedding is a ceremonial occasion but not one at which the participants need be excessively ceremonious

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grave ceremonial occasions, like birth and death and the assumption of manhood— Buchan

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the president is . . . the ceremonial head of the American government .... He greets distinguished visitors, lays wreaths on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, bestows the Medal of Honor on flustered pilots— Rossiter

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the Zuñi are a ceremonious people, a people who value sobriety and inoffensiveness above all other virtues. Their interest is centered upon their rich and complex ceremonial life— Benedict

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wine is a ceremonial drink in Normandy, where none is grown or made. It is not expected to taste good— Liebling

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Formal in comparison to ceremonial suggests set form or procedure rather than external ceremonies

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a formal call

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formal dress

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and in comparison to ceremonious, formal suggests stiffness, restraint, decorousness rather than impressive dignity or punctiliousness

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rules are an integral part of German life, rules for behavior ... for persons of every status, for every formal situation— Mead

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the habits of the family . . . may be termed formal, and old- fashioned by such visitors as claim to be the pink of the mode— Scott

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Conventional applies to whatever is in accord with or governed by recognized, frequently artificial conventions or standards; it connotes lack of originality or independence

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a conventional expression of regret

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the conventional white tie with men's full evening dress

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a highly conventional person

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a skillful . . . journalist, conventional and conformist except in a strong bent toward liberal humanitarianism— Canby

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Solemn is used in relation to religious observances or services and to certain acts the conduct of which is prescribed by law. The term implies, usually, strict attention to every detail that is prescribed or allowed by the ritual of the church or by the formalities of the law; thus, a solemn Mass is one in which the full liturgy is followed; a solemn feast is one celebrated not only by the full liturgy but by such other ceremonial observances as processions and pageants

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funerals . . . were as much social events as solemn obsequies— Schlesinger d. 1965

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having taken the solemn oath of office in the presence of my fellow countrymen—in the presence of our God— Roosevelt

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Analogous words: liturgical, ritualistic (see corresponding nouns at FORM)

ceremonial n ceremony, ritual, rite, liturgy, *form