Rate this phrase:3.5 / 2 votes

back-of-the-envelope

Approximate, rough, simplified, especially of a calculation, estimation or other reasoning.

Etymology:

  • From the idea that the calculation or reasoning would be jotted down on any available scrap of paper such as the actual back of an envelope.
252 Views
“

Do some back-of-the-envelope calculations before all the facts come in.

Collection   Edit    

Submitted on July 10, 2018

Additional definitions for 'back-of-the-envelope':

back-of-the-envelopeApproximate, rough, simplified.
See them all »

Translation

Find a translation for the back-of-the-envelope phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to back-of-the-envelope

back-cloth starbring backback upback-asswardsback waterbounce backback upbe right backback-to-backbreak the back ofbare backbehind someone's backback upback-cloth star

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this back-of-the-envelope phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this back-of-the-envelope definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "back-of-the-envelope." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/back-of-the-envelope_25213>.

    Powered by CITE.ME Cite.Me

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    It's _________ cats and dogs out there.
    A snowing
    B raining
    C storming
    D thundering

    Browse Phrases.com

    #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ