approximate
Americanadjective
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near or approaching a certain state, condition, goal, or standard.
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nearly exact; not perfectly accurate or correct.
The approximate time was 10 o'clock.
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near; close together.
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very similar; nearly identical.
verb (used with object)
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to come near to; approach closely to.
to approximate an ideal.
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to estimate.
We approximated the distance at three miles.
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to simulate; imitate closely.
The motions of the stars can be approximated in a planetarium.
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to bring near.
verb (used without object)
adjective
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almost accurate or exact
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inexact; rough; loose
only an approximate fit
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much alike; almost the same
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near; close together
verb
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(usually foll by to) to come or bring near or close; be almost the same (as)
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maths to find an expression for (some quantity) accurate to a specified degree See accurate
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
approximatesimple
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approximatessimple
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have approximatedperfect
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has approximatedperfect
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am approximatingprogressive
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are approximatingprogressive
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is approximatingprogressive
-
have been approximatingperfect progressive
-
has been approximatingperfect progressive
Past
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approximatedsimple
-
had approximatedperfect
-
was approximatingprogressive
-
were approximatingprogressive
-
had been approximatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of approximate
1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin approximātus drawn near to, approached (past participle of approximāre ). See ap- 1, proximate
Explanation
To approximate is to calculate the value of something based on informed knowledge. A computer program can approximate the value of a house based on square footage, number of rooms, year built, and other relevant factors. As a verb, approximate means "to estimate." Unlike the word guess, approximate implies the use of a logical or mathematical method. You might guess how tall a friend is based on the first number that comes to mind, but you could approximate his height by using your own height as a comparison. As an adjective, approximate can mean "near" or "close together." If your friend calls to say he’s at a location approximate to your house, she’s in your neighborhood.
Vocabulary lists containing approximate
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Academic Vocabulary: Core Tier 2 Words, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"It's a little more approximate than some of the other methods, but it's way cheaper, and we can run it much more directly on lots of harder problems," Stoudenmire says.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
The map below shows their approximate positions, which were shared with The Wall Street Journal by security officials in the region.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
Crockett likens that to the approximate weight of a baseball, “which is seen as maybe a nonstarter for mass appeal.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
The air traffic controller asks him for more details: “Do you have like approximate size or how many engines or style or anything like that?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026
This table gives approximate dates of widespread adoption of significant developments in three Eurasian and four Native American areas.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
“We continue to believe that ARCC’s current dividend approximates the long-run underlying earnings power of our business,” CEO Kort Schnabel told listeners on last week’s earnings call.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
His explanation for this time frame is that it approximates the debt refinancing cycle because the weighted average maturity of that debt is just over five years.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 21, 2025
To get around those anatomical differences, Poinar said, spiders typically position their two front legs in a way that approximates the look of antennae.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 22, 2024
The suit approximates that, based on numbers revealed in OpenAI’s paper about GPT-3, Books1 would contain roughly 63,000 titles, and Books2 would include approximately 294,000 titles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2023
Instead he approximates the accents of teachers and classmates.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
The researchers first used a vacuum pump to remove air from glass tubes, producing conditions that approximated the near emptiness of space.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
Rather, they meant to establish what Lincoln called a “standard maxim for free society,” which should be constantly looked to, labored for and more nearly approximated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
So when he launched his own podcast this October, my reaction roughly approximated that one Vince McMahon meme: Bill Nighy has an advice podcast?
From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2025
He approximated his mentor, Scioscia, in managerial longevity but not in accomplishments.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2025
He’d even approximated the artillery reach from each of the gun turrets on the towers and signified with dotted lines how he guessed the different inner chambers would be laid out.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
Far easier to build the observatory of brick and to spray it with stucco, approximating concrete’s smooth contours.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The merchandise was so popular that Murakami and the Dodgers responded by approximating the famous words of Hall of Fame Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks: “Let’s play two!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2025
Nowadays, Thewlis’ return to something approximating our old-fashioned picture of Holmes reminds us of sensibility’s valiance in a world given to absurdity and madness.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
But other approximating physics could be replaced by better or truer formulas.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 20, 2023
Calmly, Granddaddy said, “I have managed to take perfectly good pecans and ferment them into something approximating cat piss.”
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
