approximately

ap·prox·i·mate·ly
A1P3P3R1O1X8I1M3A1T1E1L1Y4
US/əˈpɹɑk.sɪ.mət.li/UK/əˈpɹɒk.sɪ.mət.li/

adverb

Imprecise but close to in quantity or amount.

“approximately 60 beats per minute”

Similar
aroundaboutnearnearly-ishall butalmostapproaching
Opposite
accuratelydefinitelyexactlyprecisely
OriginProto-Germanic *līką ← Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ← English approximate →
Very commonScrabble 29
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Meanings

adverbapproximately (not comparable)

alternative approx.

  1. not comparableImprecise but close to in quantity or amount.

    approximately 60 beats per minute

    3 more examples

    In every box of matches there are approximately 40 matchsticks.

    Per 100 g of chocolate there is approximately 11.6 g of saturated fat.

    Returning to our own epistemic situation, we do not know the sense in which quantum mechanics and relativity will be taken to be approximately true after their descriptive infelicities are addressed.

    2007 October 24, Jeffrey Alan Barrett, “Approximate Truth and Descriptive Nesting”, in Erkenntnis, volume 68, number 2, →DOI

    Synonyms: around, about, near, nearly, -ish, about, all but, almost · Antonyms: accurately, definitely, exactly, precisely

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbImprecise but close to in quantity or amount.

Similar
aroundaboutnearnearly-ishaboutall butalmostapproachingaroundby and largecircacloseclose toessentiallyfor all practical purposesfornighgive or takeimpreciselyjust about
Opposite
accuratelydefinitelyexactlyprecisely

More synonyms by meaning

adverb(of quantities) imprecise but fairly close to correct

Similar
aboutclose tojust aboutsomeroughlymore or lessaroundor so
Also see
aboutaroundcircaclose tojust aboutmore or lessor soroughlysome

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd
  2. Proto-Italic*ad
  3. Proto-Italic*ad-
  4. Latinad-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*prokʷe
  6. Proto-Indo-European*prokʷism̥mos
  7. Latinproximus
  8. Latinproximō
  9. Latinapproximō
  10. Latinapproximātus
  11. Middle Englishapproximat
  12. Englishapproximate
  13. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  14. Proto-Germanic*līką
  15. Englishapproximately

From approximate + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ὡς
  • ὡς (hōs)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Arabic حَوَالَيْ, تَقْرِيبًا
  • حَوَالَيْ (ḥawālay)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • تَقْرِيبًا (taqrīban)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Bengali প্রায়
  • প্রায় (praẏ)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Bulgarian приблизи́телно, почти́
  • приблизи́телно (priblizítelno)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • почти́ (počtí)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • о́коло (ókolo)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Catalan aproximadament
  • aproximadamentimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Chinese Cantonese 大概
  • 大概imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Chinese Mandarin 大約 /大约, 左右
  • 大約 /大约 (dàyuē)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • 左右 (zuǒyòu)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • 將近 /将近 (jiāngjìn)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • 大致 (dàzhì)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • 或多或少 (huòduōhuòshǎo)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • 大概 (dàgài)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Czech přibližně, zhruba
  • přibližněimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • zhrubaimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Danish omtrent, tilnærmelsesvis
  • omtrentimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • tilnærmelsesvisimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Dutch ongeveer, ruwweg
  • ongeveerimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • ruwwegimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • grofwegimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • pak hem beetimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Esperanto proksimume
  • proksimumeimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Estonian umbkaudu, umbes
  • umbkauduimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • umbesimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • ligiimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Finnish arviolta, noin
  • arvioltaimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • noinimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • suurinpiirteinimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • suunnilleenimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • palttiarallaaimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • osapuilleenimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
French plus ou moins, à peu près
  • plus ou moinsimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • à peu prèsimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • approximativementimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • presqueimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • quasimentimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • environimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • en grosimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • à la loucheimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
German ungefähr, etwa
  • ungefährimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • etwaimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • mehr oder wenigerimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Greek περίπου
  • περίπου (perípou)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Hebrew בְּעֵרֶךְ, בְּקֵרוּב
  • בְּעֵרֶךְ (be'érekh)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • בְּקֵרוּב (be'kiruv)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Hindi लगभग, तक़रीबन
  • लगभग (lagbhag)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • तक़रीबन (taqrīban)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Hungarian megközelítőleg, körülbelül
  • megközelítőlegimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • körülbelülimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • kb.imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • durvánimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • nagyjábólimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • mintegyimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • hozzávetőlegimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Icelandic um það bil
  • um það bilimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Indonesian kira-kira, kurang lebih
  • kira-kiraimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • kurang lebihimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Irish timpeall, thart ar
  • timpeallimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • thart arimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Italian approssimativamente, approssimatamente
  • approssimativamenteimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • approssimatamenteimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • circaimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Japanese およそ, 約
  • およそ (oyoso)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • 約 (yaku)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • 大略 (tairyaku)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Korean 대략, 약
  • 대략 (daeryak)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • 약 (yak)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Latin circiter, plus minus
  • circiterimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • plus minusimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • P.M.imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • fereimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Latvian apmēram
  • apmēramimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Lithuanian maždaug
  • maždaugimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Māori āhua
  • āhuaimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Norwegian Bokmål omtrent, bortimot
  • omtrentimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • bortimotimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Polish około, mniej więcej
  • okołoimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • mniej więcejimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • z grubszaimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • jako takoimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Portuguese aproximadamente
  • aproximadamenteimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Romanian aproximativ
  • aproximativimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Russian приблизи́тельно, приме́рно
  • приблизи́тельно (priblizítelʹno)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • приме́рно (primérno)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • о́коло (ókolo)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • гру́бо (grúbo)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • ориентиро́вочно (orijentiróvočno)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • почти́ (počtí)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Scottish Gaelic mu chuairt air
  • mu chuairt airimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Slovak približne
  • približneimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Spanish aproximadamente, a eso de
  • aproximadamenteimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • a eso deimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • aproximarse aimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Swedish ungefär, cirka
  • ungefärimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • cirkaimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • uppskattningsvisimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Tamil கிட்டத்தட்ட, தோராயமாக
  • கிட்டத்தட்ட (kiṭṭattaṭṭa)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • தோராயமாக (tōrāyamāka)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Thai ประมาณ
  • ประมาณ (bprà-maan)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Turkish yaklaşık, takriben
  • yaklaşıkimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • takribenimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Ukrainian прибли́зно, ма́йже
  • прибли́зно (pryblýzno)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • ма́йже (májže)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • зо (zo)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Urdu لَگ بَھگ, تَقْرِیباً
  • لَگ بَھگ (lag bhag)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • تَقْرِیباً (taqrīban)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Vietnamese khoảng, chừng
  • khoảngimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • chừngimprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Yiddish אַן ערך, אומגעפֿער
  • אַן ערך (an erekh)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
  • אומגעפֿער (umgefer)imprecise but close to in quantity or amount
Cite this entry
APA

approximately. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/approximately

MLA

“approximately.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/approximately. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “approximately,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/approximately.

Source: approximately on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.