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
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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
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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:
Vance’s efforts to seem hip come across as forced, as if he has never met a fellow millennial and can only approximate their lingo and cadence from reading old magazine reviews of movies like “Clueless.”
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
Alphabet will replace Verizon in the Dow, increasing the index’s technology exposure with an approximate 4.0% weighting.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
“So I went in the studio and did it trying to sound like that guy,” Manilow recalled, stomping his foot to approximate a lumbering rock beat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
The genetically modified mice lived healthier lives and had an approximate 4.4 percent increase in median lifespan compared with ordinary mice.
From Science Daily ● May 10, 2026
When he saw this drawing we cannot be sure: an earlier entry was written in 1701, which gives us an approximate date.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
“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
This approximates the experience of the Project Prakash children, because they can process full color information as soon as their cataracts are removed.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2024
Cultivated meat is created by growing livestock cells in a nutrient-dense fluid, then layering them in a way that approximates muscle fibers.
From Salon ● Apr. 10, 2024
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
In some cases, horizontal placement of circles on the date axes is approximated to accommodate others within the same range.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
Their dynamic approximated the real-life rivalry between 1950s U.S. champion Marty Reisman and Japan’s Hiroji Satoh.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2025
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
Call it one hundred because ninety-five cries out to be approximated.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
The majority of its dozen tracks coast along with an agreeable yet lifeless electro-pop groove, with layered voices approximating the earnest and indistinct ballads of latter-day Coldplay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
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
When you have people who can’t tell what’s real anymore and what’s authentic because the machine intelligence is now approximating the human intelligence, that is really the biggest risk.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 20, 2024
Because Sondheim was not around for the rehearsal process, it’s impossible to say whether he would have thought the musical had attained something approximating final form.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2023
So instead we have made progress by finding partial theories that describe a limited range of happenings and by neglecting other effects or approximating them by certain numbers.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
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.
