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 earthquake's epicenter was roughly 71 miles west of Petrolia and occurred at a depth of 1 mile. — Ca Earthquake Bot, Sacbee.com, 5 Nov. 2026

In states where voters changed sides between the 2024 presidential election to the 2026 Senate elections, all went to Democrats, who gained roughly 20 points. — Grace Manthey, CBS News, 5 Nov. 2026

In total, roughly 22 percent of workers in the arts, entertainment, recreation and accommodation industry were enrolled in Medi-Cal in 2023, according to a survey from the UC Berkeley Labor Center. — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 4 Nov. 2026

Shares of Sunrun and Plug Power each climbed roughly 7%, while shares of Nextpower jumped 15%. — Michelle Fox, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for roughly

• gruffly