Home US English conform

Definition of conform in English:

conform

Pronunciation /kənˈfôrm/ /kənˈfɔrm/

Translate conform into Spanish

intransitive verb

[no object]

  • 1Comply with rules, standards, or laws.

    ‘the kitchen does not conform to hygiene regulations’
    • ‘the changes were introduced to conform with international classifications’
    • ‘Because such publications do not conform to any standardized rules, this information is not computer readable.’
    • ‘And, like many other populist legal actions, it doesn't conform with our ideal of justice - the rule of law.’
    • ‘Prosecutors scaled back the number to eight to conform to new rules calling for swifter trials.’
    • ‘It's not a typical horror movie, in that it really doesn't conform to the genre rules.’
    • ‘In response, representatives of the company said that they would try to improve operations at the incinerator to conform with standards.’
    • ‘On the other hand, the fact that so many States have signed up to the Bill and, on paper at least, are attempting to conform with its standards is commendable.’
    • ‘The government will also continue to crack down on coal mines in particular because many fail to conform with safety standards.’
    • ‘These may have come in time as farmers were left to experiment and to adopt improved rotations and methods as they saw fit once they were no longer expected to conform to the rules of the manor court.’
    • ‘You have to conform to the rules of a planet when you're on it, to its cycles of night and day, and when people show up you have their rules to deal with.’
    • ‘These are models that can be custom built as long as they conform to a specific rule, or rather, a formula of measurements.’
    • ‘These strings are termed ‘grammatical’ because they conform to the rules of the grammar.’
    • ‘However, all photographic tricks still have to conform to the basic rules of physics, in particular the rules of light.’
    • ‘They said the move was because it was not possible to renovate the building, which they had occupied since 1956, to conform with new care home standards.’
    • ‘Shall I stop him in order to conform with my reader's definition of ‘separation’?’
    • ‘Secondly, the planners have allowed the opening of a shop within yards of the disputed shutters that does not conform with disability rights legislation.’
    • ‘The plan was recently judged by another inspector to conform with Government policy and it is exasperating to see other inspectors failing to uphold it.’
    • ‘The usual excuse is that it does not conform with European law.’
    • ‘The types of cross-sticks allowed in competition are required to conform to a standard well defined in the rules.’
    • ‘And if our practices and doctrines do not conform with the teachings of the Scriptures then we must eliminate them.’
    • ‘The group alleged that the rates they had since paid had not been directed to the group members' accounts to conform with municipal regulations.’
    comply with, abide by, obey, observe, follow, keep to, hold to, adhere to
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1(of a person) behave according to socially acceptable conventions or standards.
      ‘the pressure to conform’
      • ‘He accepts he does not conform to the public school or Oxbridge stereotype, as he was brought up on a council estate in Dringhouses and educated at Millthorpe School.’
      • ‘In exchange, they must conform to extensive social and environmental criteria.’
      • ‘But then life is so much easier when we imagine that people conform to a stereotype.’
      • ‘Is your exquisite taste really your taste, or are you simply conforming to standards currently approved by the tastemakers of your society?’
      • ‘Most people conform to mass-marketed new trends making it seem as though they don't have any personal style.’
      • ‘It seems to me that the problem is with the rest of society trying to make people conform to a very narrow mode of dress rather than it being a case of men stepping outside what's normal.’
      • ‘I could never conform to what other people wanted me to be for the sake of fitting in.’
      • ‘He never conformed to the accepted behaviour that comes with being a top motorcyclist.’
      • ‘The young people conform to the world, following its ways and foolish fashion.’
      • ‘Well, I did, but they conform to general socially acceptable behaviour.’
      • ‘We feel that we must conform to these unrealistic, fairytale like images.’
      • ‘But she did not conform to the stereotype of the de-feminised learned woman.’
      • ‘I didn't conform to the norm and I couldn't play the cat and mouse game with the press.’
      • ‘They are saying, you must conform to our version of family and society or you can have no rights.’
      • ‘People are defined as illiterate when they do not conform to a set of cultural criteria defined by the ruling elite of a particular society.’
      • ‘Females conform to their peers more than do males, but there is greater social disapproval for female delinquency.’
      • ‘Tall, with long, Sixties-style hair and trendy dark shirts, he does not conform to the public stereotype of the anoraked maths professor.’
      • ‘Hence again I have stayed in my hole, because up above there's an increasing passion to make men conform to a pattern.’
      • ‘Clearly, the street kids conform to society's view of them as troubled.’
      follow convention, be conventional, follow tradition, follow custom, fit in, adapt, adjust, follow the crowd, run with the pack, swim with the stream
      View synonyms
    2. 1.2Be similar in form or type; agree.
      ‘the countryside should conform to a certain idea of the picturesque’
      • ‘The performers of the reading were uniformly matched and admirably conformed to the director's wishes in under six hours of rehearsal making the event memorable.’
      • ‘His description of the height and build of the person does not conform to the height and build of the appellant at the relevant time.’
      • ‘Meanwhile, he himself can slag people off just because they don't conform to his narrow vision of what constitutes a Brit.’
      • ‘But if we believe that women are capable of responsible, moral choices we must allow them to make them - even when they do not conform to our own views and values.’
      • ‘He didn't conform to the eras; the times adopted to him, asking only that he dress in whatever bad fabrics the era provided.’
      • ‘Are bishops willing to sacrifice useful candidates simply because they don't conform to the clerical pattern of another age, time and society?’
      • ‘Once, at a press conference, he was asked if his thinking as a scientist could conform to the thinking of a politician.’
      • ‘No, my main worry is that the passengers will conform to his relaxed style and be allowed to fly in jumpers and corduroys.’
      • ‘Even though toe shoes don't come in left-right pairs, they quickly conform to the shape of your feet with wear.’
      • ‘Southern societies are judged as having violated their children because the lives of the children do not conform to the image of childhood held in the West.’
      • ‘They will not conform to the academic worldview or the organizational development paradigm.’
      • ‘But if we think God must conform to one or the other picture, we really have a limited view.’
      • ‘In any particular situation, any 18 centers will do, even if they don't conform to this pattern.’
      • ‘Make sure to keep in mind that they should also conform to the mood and harmony of the living space.’
      match, fit, suit, answer, agree with, be like, be similar to, coincide with, correspond to, correlate to, be consistent with, be consonant with, be comparable with, measure up to, go with, tally with, square with, accord with, parallel, harmonize with
      View synonyms

Origin

Middle English (in the sense ‘make (something) like another thing’): from Old French conformer, from Latin conformare, from con- ‘together’ + formare ‘to form’.