roughly

adverb

rough·​ly ˈrə-flē How to pronounce roughly (audio)
Synonyms of roughlynext
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

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Fox was selling 30-second ad breaks for roughly $200,000 and up to $750,000 for more high profile games. Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 June 2026 The commission endorsed the idea of adding 10 council members, a move that would reduce the size of each council district to roughly 159,000 residents from 265,000. Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2026 About 96 million Americans ages 16 and older identify as birders, roughly 37% of the US population, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2022 demographic and economic survey on birding, the most comprehensive study to date. Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 18 June 2026 Well, just one petabyte is equal to roughly 250 million high resolution photos or the storage capacity of 250,000 smartphones or 13 years' worth of continuous high-definition movies. David Wade, CBS News, 18 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for roughly

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of roughly was in the 14th century

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Cite this Entry

“Roughly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/roughly. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.

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