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

• about
• around
• like
• more or less
• much
• near
• plus or minus
• roughly
• say
• some

Examples of approximately in a Sentence

it takes approximately three hours to drive to Dallas

Recent Examples on the Web

The starting rate for the hotel is approximately $350 per night, but do check for low-season pricing. —Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 6 Dec. 2024

Gangs now control approximately 85 percent of the city. —Shannon McDonagh, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024

In the past few years, the quasi-governmental agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have backed approximately 40% of all new mortgages, and the Federal Housing Administration, which is a government agency, has insured an additional one-quarter of them. —Andrea Riquier, USA TODAY, 6 Dec. 2024

Total Eras Tour gross Based on the approximately $17.32 million in ticket revenue Pollstar estimated that Swift had earned for each of the first 60 Eras dates, her total tour gross currently sits somewhere around $2.633 billion. —Megan McCluskey, TIME, 6 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1742, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

approximately

adverb

ap·​prox·​i·​mate·​ly

-mət-lē

: reasonably close to

approximately 5 miles

at approximately six o'clock