roughly

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adverb rough·ly \ ˈrə-flē \

Definition of roughly

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

See roughly defined for English-language learners

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 of roughly from the Web

Overall corporate supply will be similar to last year’s roughly C$94 billion, McNamara said.

— allison mcneely, Bloomberg.com, "Apple Leads Maple Bond Surge to Decade High," 30 Aug. 2017
And for the roughly 1 million addicted to cocaine in the United States and for another 13 million users worldwide, the need for a therapy is acute.

— meredith wadman, Science | AAAS, "Brain-altering magnetic pulses could zap cocaine addiction," 29 Aug. 2017
The second section of the third movement, which sounds like a bagpipe wheezing, is usually taken slower, but Zinman kept the tempo roughly the same as the first section, an intriguing but harmless change.

— christian hertzog, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Beethoven and David Zinman bring SummerFest to a wild close," 26 Aug. 2017
Previously, players had a roughly 1 in 175 million chance of winning.

— travis m. andrews, Washington Post, "The second largest jackpot in Powerball history has a winner," 24 Aug. 2017
Fleck said his company is capable of handling roughly 120 appointments a day.

— matt campbell, kansascity, "Flooded basements bring headaches — and business to area companies," 24 Aug. 2017
Recently, the National Council for Home Safety and Security, a trade association representing security alarm installers and contractors, ranked Tinley Park in roughly the middle of the 100 safest cities in the U.S. with populations over 50,000.

— mike nolan, Daily Southtown, "FBI, other agencies assist in probe of Tinley Park home invasion," 16 Aug. 2017
The overdose death rate of people ages 15 to 19 was roughly 1.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 1999 and 3.7 deaths per 100,000 by 2015.

— lily herman, Teen Vogue, "Fatal Teen Drug Overdoses Have Doubled in 15 Years," 16 Aug. 2017
Downtown St. Andrews comprises not much more than four roughly parallel streets, each about half a mile long, which converge slightly at their eastern ends beside the ruins of a 12th-century cathedral.

— howard swains, Town & Country, "How Scotland's University of St. Andrews Became a Top American School," 24 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'roughly.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of roughly

14th century

roughly Synonyms

Synonyms

about, around, like, more or less, much, near, plus or minus, approximately, say, some

Antonyms

exactly, precisely

Related Words

generally, kind of, loosely; nearly, nominally, practically, virtually, well-nigh

Near Antonyms

due, even, just, sharp, smack-dab, squarely

ROUGHLY Defined for English Language Learners

roughly

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adverb

Definition of roughly for English Language Learners

: not exactly but close in number, quality, meaning, etc.
: in a way that is not gentle or careful
: in a very simple or basic way

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See words that rhyme with roughly Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for roughly Spanish Central: Translation of roughly Nglish: Translation of roughly for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of roughly for Arabic speakers

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roughly

Definition of roughly

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roughly Synonyms

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ROUGHLY Defined for English Language Learners

roughly

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roughly

Definition of roughly

From the M-W Editors

Examples of roughly in a Sentence

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First Known Use of roughly

roughly Synonyms

Synonyms

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ROUGHLY Defined for English Language Learners

roughly

Definition of roughly for English Language Learners

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