How can I display an expression in unevaluated form?

Question

TraditionalForm[2*3^3 + 5^2]

I´d like to obtain 2*3^3 + 5^2 displayed in traditional form without being evaluated to obtain 79.

Added after bobthechemist's answer

How could I obtain the behavior I want from a String (The expression is stored in a string)?

a = "2*3^3+5^2"
Defer[a]
Defer[ToExpression[a]]

@bobthechemist Yes!. Thank you. You can answer and I set as the solution. — Mika Ike, Commented Nov 13, 2020 at 18:56
@bobthechemist and how to obtain that from a expression as a String?. a = "2*3^3+5^2" Defer[a] Defer[ToExpression[a]] — Mika Ike, Commented Nov 13, 2020 at 19:00
I don't think that will be possible, since the superscripts are not a standard font. I'm not well versed with the underlying mechanisms for formatting in Mathematica, but that output has a bunch of Boxes that probably can't be turned into strings easily. — bobthechemist, Commented Nov 13, 2020 at 19:06

bobthechemist · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-13 18:57:30Z

3

Don't use TraditionalForm in this case; rather, use Defer.

answered Nov 13, 2020 at 18:57

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m_goldberg · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-14 05:49:23Z

4

The documentation for ToExpression says

So

a = "2*3^3+5^2";
ToExpression[a, TraditionalForm, Defer]

gives

answered Nov 14, 2020 at 5:49

m_goldberg

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cvgmt · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-14 09:30:58Z

3

HoldForm is beter.

a = 2*3^3 + 5^2 // HoldForm
a // TraditionalForm
8 a // TraditionalForm
8 a // ReleaseHold

answered Nov 14, 2020 at 9:30

cvgmt

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3 Answers 3