roughly

adverb

rough·​ly ˈrə-flē 

1

: in a rough manner: such as

a

: with harshness or violence

treated the prisoner roughly

b

: in crude fashion : imperfectly

roughly dressed lumber

2

: without completeness or exactness : approximately

roughly 20 percent

Synonyms of roughly

• approximately
• about
• around

Examples of roughly in a Sentence

Roughly translated, it means “hurry up!”.

The new product is modeled roughly on an earlier design.

He threw the package roughly in the truck.

The guard told us roughly that we had to stand back.

Recent Examples on the Web

The project will also be home roughly 3,000 apartment units, 900 acres of commercial space, and 1,100 acres of green space protected by a conservation easement to preserve the area’s natural beauty. —Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Nov. 2025

The plane began its takeoff from one of the airport's runways, but reached only 475 feet of elevation — or roughly 100 feet off the ground — prior to crashing. —Staff, Louisville Courier Journal, 14 Nov. 2025

Hoskins’ claim regarding the signatures put in doubt the validity of roughly 92,000 of the campaign’s more than 200,000 signatures collected across the state. —Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 13 Nov. 2025

The original batch of documents released online is divided into seven large files roughly centered around the main Nazi criminals covered in them. —Solly Boussidan, FOXNews.com, 13 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for roughly

• gruffly