more or less

adverb

Definition of more or lessnext
1
as in almost
very close to but not completely the lot is 16 acres more or less

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in pretty
to some degree or extent most couples in the survey said that they were more or less happy in their marriage

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in approximately
close to but not exactly the box weighs 60 pounds more or less

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of more or less Some sources may have more or less information than others, depending on how each source was published or created and what is known about it. — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 9 Oct. 2026 The same products, more or less, from two far more powerful companies. — Allison Johnson, The Verge, 9 Oct. 2026 Furthermore, DraftKings Pick6 is a peer-to-peer fantasy sports variant centered on a simple 'more or less' mechanic tied to individual athlete performance metrics and is not sports betting. — CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026 Polling could be more or less accurate in different regions, as Republican pollster Ruffini suggests. — Scott Clement, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for more or less
Recent Examples of Synonyms for more or less
  1. almost
  2. pretty
  3. approximately
  4. practically
  5. quite
  6. about
  7. nearly
  8. relatively
Adverb
  • There’s plenty of other awful things happening in the episode, almost all of them revolving around Sai.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Genetic comparisons revealed that deep-sea viral communities in the region are almost entirely unique, with just 4 percent of their protein clusters matching global databases.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of almost
Adverb
  • Look, for the first time, Democrats are not just campaigning on each coast, Chris, and that's pretty good for us.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026
  • The snake-haired figure gets a pretty bad rap, according to Wilson, who thinks people tend to overlook the more complicated parts of her mythology.
    — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of pretty
Adverb
  • The manufacturer lists approximately 2,485 miles with a 40,000-pound payload.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The ticket purchase limit for that concert was between four and eight, prosecutors said, and REPS allegedly made approximately $833,323 in profit by reselling those tickets.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of approximately
Adverb
  • Remember the old Popeye and spinach routine, where the squinty-eyed sailor scarfs down a can of leafy greens and his muscles practically burst out of his shirt?
    — Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The chase for a third consecutive World Series championship is historically and essentially and practically kaput.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of practically
Adverb
  • The press release probably didn’t need to also say the company imbued it with distinctive character or charm; that’s quite obvious from the design.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Nothing, however, has lived on quite like his appreciation for the mundane.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of quite
Adverb
  • In Lyon, France's third-largest city where about 20,000 protesters joined the march, a fire broke out inside a tourist office.
    — SYLVIE CORBET, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026
  • The incident occurred along the 3700 block of Gardenia Avenue, where police received a call about two shots being fired in a nearby residence, Long Beach Police said in a statement.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of about
Adverb
  • Emily Hargreaves, who has been at Multitude for nearly a decade, continues to lead the personal PR biz including Dyer, Adefope and Latif.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Atlas assembly overhaul The company released a nearly six-minute video showing how its manufacturing processes support rapid hardware development, letting engineers move from design changes to physical components and assembled robots faster.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of nearly
Adverb
  • The economics depend on utilization A robot’s hourly cost is relatively simple to calculate.
    — Navin Chaddha, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
  • For most of my career, the obvious intersections between business and politics were relatively easy to identify.
    — Amanda Simonian, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of relatively

Browse Nearby Words

more
more or less
moreover
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“More or less.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/more%20or%20less. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All