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

• roughly
• about
• around

Examples of approximately in a Sentence

it takes approximately three hours to drive to Dallas

Recent Examples on the Web

According to a 2024 Bank of America report, approximately 25% of households live paycheck to paycheck, which has forced retailers to go on the offensive. —Atal Bansal, Forbes.com, 2 July 2025

Decker is described as a white man standing 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing approximately 190 pounds. —Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 1 July 2025

Webtoon Entertainment boasts approximately 150 million monthly active users across its ecosystem of platforms, which includes Webtoon, Wattpad, Line Manga and ebookjapan, among others. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 1 July 2025

Capstan Therapeutics previously raised approximately $340 million in venture funding from investors including RA Capital Management, Forbion, JJDC, and others. —Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 1 July 2025

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