Adverb(?) ‘more’ in ‘more than’

Question

At this point signing a contract would be little more than a formality.

Does ‘more than a formality’ mean ‘very formal’?

The phrase is little more than a formality - it means much the same as only a formality. Signing a contract now would make no practical difference to the situation, it would just make things official. dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/formality — Kate Bunting, Apr 3, 2021 at 16:33

stangdon · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-03 16:31:44Z

0

The sentence should be parsed like this:

Signing a contract would be
little more than
a formality.

little more than is an idiomatic phrase that means "only slightly more than".

A formality is "something that we do to comply with rules" or "a standard procedure that we do even though it doesn't have any effect".

So the sentence can be interpreted like this:

Signing a contract would be not much more than a ritual.

answered Apr 3, 2021 at 16:31

stangdon

39.1k9 gold badges66 silver badges96 bronze badges

Add a comment |

1 Answer 1