roughly
adverb
Form of rough , adverb of rough.
Simple meaning
Without precision or exactness.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ruhfleeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹʌfli
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adverb
Without precision or exactness; imprecisely but close to in quantity or amount; approximately.
In a rough manner; without kindness, softness, or gentleness.
With rough motion as over a rough surface
Unevenly or irregularly.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Without precision or exactness; imprecisely but close to in quantity or amount; approximately.
Used this way, roughly is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. This sense is about measurement, so it is used where accuracy is the point.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Careful and exacting
- Usage feel
- Precise and approving
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
- Academic writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Imprecise but close to in quantity or amount.
Approximately, very nearly.
Imprecise but fairly close to correct.
Nearly; approximately; about.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Having or caused by an irregular surface.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A texture of a surface or edge that is not smooth but is irregular and uneven.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Hew roughly, without finishing the surface.
Sand roughly.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.