Synonyms:
artificial, contrived, hokey, stilted
Meaning: artificially formal; "that artificial humility that her husband hated"; "contrived coyness"; "a stilted letter of acknowledgment"; "when people try to correct their speech they develop a stilted pronunciation"
Usage examples
Paul smiled at the curiously stilted phrase.
But he could find nothing that would not sound horribly stilted and cold.
There had been people at the Home, who exchanged a stilted, perfunctory kindness for their salaries.
His English was almost perfect, though now and again he hesitated in the choice of a word, and there were moments when he was a little stilted in his speech, and more than a little pedantic.