approximately
Americanadverb
adverb
Etymology
Origin of approximately
First recorded in 1845–50; approximate ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )
Explanation
Approximately is close to a particular time, measurement, or number — but it's not exact. If you plan to meet a friend at approximately 2:00, it will be okay if you are a bit early or late. Approximately has its roots in the Latin word proximus, meaning "nearly." So, approximately means "about" or "close to." If you tell someone there will be approximately seventy people at a dinner, it means you expect seventy people, though the actual number could be a little more or a little less than seventy.
Vocabulary lists containing approximately
Walk Two Moons
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Ocean Storm Alert!
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STAAR Grade 7 Mathematics: The Language of the Test
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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.
The host stand was approximately two feet away.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
“That may be what the declining silver price is telling us now, because silver’s value is approximately 50% monetary and 50% commodity,” said Samuelson.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
His laboratory is now investigating whether the same approach could help treat endometriosis, a chronic inflammatory condition affecting approximately one in 10 women.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
A neighbor said police initially arrived at the residential building approximately one hour after the shooting.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
There were about 60,000 Jews in Kraków, approximately one quarter of the city's population.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
