more or less
Idioms-
Approximately, as in The truck will hold nine yards of dirt, more or less . This usage was first recorded in 1589.
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Basically, essentially, as in We more or less agree on the substance of the letter . This usage was first recorded about 1225.
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.
While the S&P 500 is more or less flat for the year, financial stocks have declined 7% on average.
From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026
No two El Niño events are the same, but certain weather patterns are more or less likely when El Niño develops.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
Ranging from complete cartoons to more or less fully realized humans, they don’t all fit together perfectly, and so nominally emotional moments don’t necessarily register as such.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
Nonetheless, that is more or less what has happened.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
They both had the same dark hair and more or less the same nose, and what he always thought was a bit too much eyebrow.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
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.
