approximately

adverb

ap·​prox·​i·​mate·​ly ə-ˈpräk-sə-mət-lē 

: in an approximate manner

an event in ancient history that can only be approximately dated

—used to indicate that a stated number, amount, or value is an approximation

Approximately [=around, about] 2,000 people attended the rally.

arrived at approximately 11:30 in the morning

During a lifetime, a person will take approximately 500 million breaths.

—Arthur S. Slutsky, M.D., et al.

Synonyms of approximately

• roughly
• about
• around

Examples of approximately in a Sentence

it takes approximately three hours to drive to Dallas

Recent Examples on the Web

Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero Jack Grealish (Everton) One of the great joys of last season was the sight of Jack Grealish getting approximately 75 per cent of his groove back on loan at Everton. — David Ornstein, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026

Brazil, India and Thailand together account for approximately 70% of global sugar exports. — Deena Zaidi, CNBC, 6 Sep. 2026

According to figures compiled by the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission and published by the Chinese government, approximately 142,000 people died, while more than 10 million were affected. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2026

At the same time, more than 3,000 data centers are planned or are under construction, adding to the approximately 4,000 that exist already, according to the Associated Press. — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1742, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for approximately

• proximately

Kids Definition

approximately

adverb

ap·​prox·​i·​mate·​ly

-mət-lē

: reasonably close to

approximately 5 miles

at approximately six o'clock