more or less


Approximately, as in The truck will hold nine yards of dirt, more or less. This usage was first recorded in 1589.

Words Nearby more or less

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use more or less in a sentence

  • Red Hoss forgot temporarily the more-or-less indefinite purpose which had brought him hither.

    Sundry Accounts | Irvin S. Cobb
  • The women seemed to have erected a temporary tri-partite Entente-more-or-less-Cordiale.

    Murder in the Gunroom | Henry Beam Piper
  • It was not on its side but rather had sunk into the snow in more-or-less of an upright position.

  • Then armed, more-or-less-armored men ran back to the scene of their reveling.

    Triplanetary | Edward Elmer Smith
  • Back home on Earth, they had all been more-or-less average men.

    Asteroid of Fear | Raymond Zinke Gallun