Back-of-the-envelope

Quick meaning: Back-of-the-envelope is an adjective meaning (idiomatic, informal) Especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified.

Meaning

(idiomatic, informal) Especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified.

Example Sentences

We can do some back-of-the-envelope calculations before all the facts come in.

On one defense item, somebody kept referring to it as a back-of-an-envelope cost estimate. Do you have a back-of-an-envelope cost estimate?

[T]he original estimates are frequently back-of-the-envelope-type estimates made internally without detailed engineering studies, if you go all the way back to Day 1.

Misapplying a basic feature of diffusion theory, [Werner] Heisenberg arrived at an impossibly high figure for a critical mass of pure U235. This was done by means of a seductively simple "back of an envelope" calculation in 1940, […]

Synonyms for back-of-the-envelope

Depending on context, synonyms include back-of-the-napkin.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include approximated, approximatable, pseudoanalytical, approximable, rounded, nonexact.

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