significant figures
Britishplural noun
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the figures of a number that express a magnitude to a specified degree of accuracy, rounding up or down the final figure
3.141 59 to four significant figures is 3.142
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the number of such figures Compare decimal place
3.142 has four significant figures
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.
Belafonte began psychotherapy, initially with Janet Kennedy, an analyst whose two successive husbands, Stanley Levison and Jay Richard Kennedy would each become significant figures in Belafonte’s life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Shortly after the bill’s contents were released on Wednesday, many significant figures in the college-sports industry offered their thoughts.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
So many significant figures from the previous era, who negotiated key deals, treated players and presented the public face of the club, have gone.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2025
“To know that some of the most significant figures in American social and political life support the Enhanced Games is more important to us than any investment,” he said on a video call in February.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2025
The significant figures of a number are those which commence with the first figure other than zero in the number; thus the significant figures of 13.027 and of .00013027 are the same.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 5 "Arculf" to "Armour, Philip" by Various
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.
