roughly /ˈɹʌf.li/ adverb3 •In a rough manner; without kindness, softness, or gentleness.They treated the prisoners roughly [...] slashing pitilessly with their whips to drive them as wretched animals before them. — 1966 •Without precision or exactness; imprecisely but close to in quantity or amount; approximately.Satanism can be divided, roughly, into two branches: the Luciferians and the Palladists. — 1936 •Unevenly or irregularly. formsmore roughly · roughlier · most roughly · roughliest