more or less
301
2.1
- idiom
- /mɔr ɔr lɛs/
:
más o menos
- It's quite possible I was feeling more or less fragile at that instant.
- more or less the same
- more or less coherent
- more or less stable
And Earth is able to more or less get stabilized.
- And Earth is able to more or less get stabilized.
- And the parts are still more or less retail ready.
- And I think he's more or less universally adored.
- I think it's going to be more or less fear based.
- It's the same exact chassis more or less as the Intel Mac Pro.
- The Persians are more or less controlled along the frontier.
- Are smart people more or less likely to commit suicide?
Examples
-
Do you think this person makes more or less money than you?
-
We're all mad, more or less, these days.
-
Everything is more or less written down.
-
And some parts of that are more or less now sort of under control.
-
And that is more or less the finished look.
-
And things were back to where they started, more or less.
-
Everyone has their path in life, and this is more or less where mine started.
-
Population rose steadily in Europe and Asia, while remaining more or less stable elsewhere.
Academic text (1990) -
And that's more or less what I've been doing since then.
-
The meeting will take more or less an hour to complete.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Not exact but near a number, amount, or time
∞
1.0
Nearly but not completely
∞
2.1
To some degree but not completely
∞
1.0
Almost but not completely
∞
3.0
Almost completely but not quite
915
2.7
Almost right, but not exactly
695
1.0
You add it after a number to show the number is about that amount
634
2.5
Almost but not completely
578
3.6
Almost complete but not fully finished
524
3.2
Near the exact number or amount
379
1.0
About an amount or number, not exact
373
1.6
About a number or amount that is not exact
1
8.4
Almost but not completely
1
9.4
Almost exactly right
People use it to say a number or time is close to but not exact
At about that time, place, or number
Antonyms
How Exact
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase expresses a simple scalar range built from the literal meanings of 'more' and 'less' with 'or' indicating variability, so the sense 'approximately/about' is directly inferable from the constituents. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows everyday usage, so a B1 learner who knows the words would very likely understand the MWE.
Etymology
The phrase more or less may come from people comparing amounts: something can be a bit more or a bit less than the exact number. So, more or less means 'about' or 'not exact'.