approximate

[ adjective uh-prok-suh-mit; verb uh-prok-suh-meyt ]

/ adjective əˈprɒk sə mɪt; verb əˈprɒk səˌmeɪt /

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See synonyms for: approximate / approximating / approximately on Thesaurus.com

adjective

near or approaching a certain state, condition, goal, or standard.

nearly exact; not perfectly accurate or correct: The approximate time was 10 o'clock.

near; close together.

very similar; nearly identical.

verb (used with object), ap·prox·i·mat·ed, ap·prox·i·mat·ing.

to come near to; approach closely to: to approximate an ideal.

to estimate: We approximated the distance at three miles.

to simulate; imitate closely: The motions of the stars can be approximated in a planetarium.

to bring near.

verb (used without object), ap·prox·i·mat·ed, ap·prox·i·mat·ing.

to come near in position, character, amount, etc.

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Origin of approximate

1400–50; late Middle English <Late Latin approximātus drawn near to, approached (past participle of approximāre). See ap-¹, proximate

OTHER WORDS FROM approximate

ap·prox·i·mate·ly, adverb

Words nearby approximate

approved social worker, approver, approx., approximal, approximant, approximate, approximately, approximation, appt., apptd., appulse

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use approximate in a sentence

In the absence of live interactions, we must do our best as a society to approximate them.
Miss Manners: Practice saying ‘I’ve got it, thanks’|Judith Martin, Nicholas Martin, Jacobina Martin|February 12, 2021|Washington Post
Of the approximate 1,800 fatalities from mid-May to mid-June, 70 percent were people older than 70.
900,000 infected. Nearly 15,000 dead. How the coronavirus tore through D.C., Maryland and Virginia.|Rebecca Tan, Antonio Olivo, John D. Harden|February 5, 2021|Washington Post
Some brands pack on features that allow users to more closely approximate the cinematic experience, but if you’re in the HD range, you’re already on your way.
Best 2 in 1 laptops: Work hard, play hard with these versatile picks|PopSci Commerce Team|January 27, 2021|Popular-Science
I would never have figured out on my own that Braun-Meuser-Case was supposed to approximate “brand-new suitcase.”
Style Conversational Week 1419: A smile for the Capitol?|Pat Myers|January 14, 2021|Washington Post

Solver Alex Vornsand approximated the size of this region by picking random points in the circle and seeing how many would have resulted in a balanced disk.
Can You Cut The Square … Into More Squares?|Zach Wissner-Gross|January 8, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
Total approximate retail value of all prizes awarded is $ 3899.97.
The Daily Beast Company LLC The New Alphas Sweepstakes Official Rules||December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By 2018, Chinese wealth is expected to approximate the level of US wealth in 1993.
World Will Be 40 Percent Richer By 2018|Credit Suisse|December 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I figure out the approximate outline, the sequence of subject matter for the chapter, numbering the material.
How I Write: Jared Diamond|Noah Charney|November 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And nobody had reported a missing child of that approximate age.
Baby Hope Killer Confesses After 22 Years|Michael Daly|October 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The red line is the approximate break-even price of the average tar sands producer.
The Quixotic Crusade Against the Keystone Pipeline|Megan McArdle|March 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
For accuracy, 500 to 1000 leukocytes must be classified; for approximate results, 200 are sufficient.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
His skin was of so light a yellow color as to approximate to dirty white, and his face was pock-marked from neck to crown.
Dope|Sax Rohmer
They are for the most part straight, and intersect each other at approximate right angles.
The Catacombs of Rome|William Henry Withrow
It is impossible to arrive at even an approximate estimate of the number of victims of the early persecutions.
The Catacombs of Rome|William Henry Withrow
The approximate date is probably about the middle of the fifteenth century.
Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey|Thomas Perkins

British Dictionary definitions for approximate

approximate

adjective (əˈprɒksɪmɪt)

almost accurate or exact

inexact; rough; looseonly an approximate fit

much alike; almost the same

near; close together

verb (əˈprɒksɪˌmeɪt)

(usually foll by to) to come or bring near or close; be almost the same (as)

maths to find an expression for (some quantity) accurate to a specified degreeSee accurate (def. 4)

Derived forms of approximate

approximative, adjective

Word Origin for approximate

C15: from Late Latin approximāre, from Latin proximus nearest, from prope near

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

approximate

Origin of approximate

OTHER WORDS FROM approximate

Words nearby approximate

Words related to approximate

How to use approximate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for approximate

Derived forms of approximate

Word Origin for approximate