Doing some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations, he reckoned that the raw materials actually cost less than one-thirtieth of the selling price.
Source: tatoeba (5379852)
Back-of-the-envelope
//ˌbæk‿əv ðiː ˈɛnvələʊp//
Synonyms for "back-of-the-envelope" (2 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (1)
Adjective(1 words)
Related words (1)
Adjective(1 words)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
Related terms
1 entriesTranslations
10 translations across 5 languages.
Chinese Mandarin
1 entries- 粗略的 adj (especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified)
Finnish
1 entries- ruutupaperi adj (especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified)
French
3 entries- de coin de table adj (especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified)
- vite fait adj (especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified)
- à l'arrache adj (especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified)
German
3 entries- Bierdeckel adj (especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified)
- Schmierzettel adj (especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified)
- hingekritzelt adj (especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified)
Portuguese
2 entries- em cima do joelho adj (especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified)
- à pressa adj (especially of a calculation, estimation, or other reasoning, or an idea: approximate, rough, simplified)
Sample sentences
12 total sentences available.
We can do some back-of-the-envelope calculations before all the facts come in.
Source: wiktionary
[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.
Source: wiktionary
We joke about having to make back-of-the-envelope calculations, while in the university environment we might spend 2 or 3 weeks computerizing the calculations. I might say, however, that making back-of-the-envelope calculations and later checking them out on computers has impressed me that we have developed a considerable skill in back-of-the-envelope calculations.
Source: wiktionary
Showing 4 of 12 available sentences.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.