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about

adverb · adjective

Simple meaning

All around or on all sides.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhbowt

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

əˈbaʊt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adverb

  1. Nearly; approximately; with close correspondence in quality, manner, degree, quantity, or time; almost.

  2. All around or on all sides

    “Dirty clothes lying around (or about).”

  3. Here and there; around; in one place and another; up and down.

  4. Near; in the vicinity.

  5. From one place or position to another in succession; indicating repeated movement or activity.

  6. In rotation or succession

adjective

  1. Near; in the vicinity or neighbourhood.

  2. Moving around or in motion; astir.

  3. In existence; being in evidence; apparent.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Nearly; approximately; with close correspondence in quality, manner, degree, quantity, or time; almost.

As an adverb, 'about' is a versatile way to express approximation. It's less formal than 'approximately' and often feels conversational. It can be used for time, quantity, or general subject matter.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where you'll really hear it

  • Casual conversation

    “The movie starts about seven o'clock tonight.”

  • Project updates

    “We're about halfway done with the renovations.”

Nearby words

  • close to , more casual, better suited to speech than writing

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use about

  • “Dirty clothes lying around (or about).”adverb
  • “Wandering about with no place to go.”adverb
  • “The job is (just) about done.”adverb

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • just about

    Approximately, very nearly.

  • around

    Nearly; approximately; about.

  • nearly

    Closely, in close proximity.

  • almost

    Very close to, but not quite.

  • roughly

    Without precision or exactness.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • about-faceverbCompound term

    Turn, usually 180 degrees.

  • about turnnounCompound term

    Act of pivoting 180 degrees, especially in a military formation.

  • go aboutverbCompound term

    Begin to deal with.

  • just aboutadverbCompound term

    Imprecise but fairly close to correct.

  • kick aboutverbCompound term

    Be around.

  • knock aboutverbCompound term

    Strike against forcefully.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

adverb

Sense: nearly

roughlyaroundapproximatelyjust aboutnearnearlyclose toInformalnigh

adjective

Sense: near

aroundInformal

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.