WordNet
adv. in a set manner without serious attention; "they answered my letter pro forma"; "he kissed her cheek perfunctorily" [syn: perfunctorily, pro forma]
Usage examples of "as a formality".
The cotton sweater was something I had packed as a formality, as you might pack antisnake bite medicine or splints.
Normally the aircrews of the Polish LOT airlines, for which he was a senior steward, passed through customs and immigration almost as a formality.
I picked up the Admiralty chart to give to the navigator as a formality only.
He had thought of this second ceremony as a formality, but knew that it had made his marriage to her real.
Moulton went up in the line to pay his respects to the newly-elected chief magistrate, purely as a formality, he explained to his companions.
The cotton sweater was something I had packed as a formality, as you might pack anti snakebite medicine or splints.
You're being charged, as a formality to keep you available, with giving false information to the authorities knowingly.
The offer to leave was made as a formality, but almost always it was waived.