Ways to say it
| Italian | IPA |
|---|---|
| più o meno | /ˈpju ˈɔ ˈme.no/ (word by word) |
| su per giù | /ˈsu‿p.per ˈd͡ʒu/ |
| approssimativamente | /ap.pros.si.ma.ti.vaˈmen.te/ |
più o meno is used to mean approximately. It can be used to qualify a quantity, such as "more or less ten" or to qualify the degree of an action or state, such as "I more or less understand".
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase più o meno is a literal translation of "more or less", where più means "more" and meno means "less".
Which one should you use?
più o meno is used in everyday conversation. For a more colloquial and idiomatic feel, you can use su per giù, which means "roughly". If you are in a technical or precise context and need a formal adverb meaning "approximately", use approssimativamente.
How does it change in a sentence?
When using più o meno to mean "more or less happy", the adjective changes based on the subject: use più o meno felice for a singular male subject and più o meno felici for a plural subject.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation is /ˈpju ˈɔ ˈme.no/. It has 4 syllables, with the stress on the first syllable.
Did you know?
- The colloquial phrase su per giù literally translates to 'up for down'.
- In casual Italian, più o meno is often used as a standalone answer to a question, similar to how an English speaker might shrug and say 'sort of'.
- In many regional Italian dialects, you might hear a doubling of the starting sound in più due to ancient linguistic patterns, a phenomenon called autogemination.
Examples in context
- Lo capisco più o meno.I understand it more or less.This example shows how to use più o meno to describe the degree of understanding.Tatoeba #930229 by Guybrush88, translation #781496 by ingenius000
- Ha più o meno la mia età.She's more or less my age.This example uses più o meno to qualify a person's age.Tatoeba #378700 by Pharamp, translation #4050348 by AlanF_US
- Capisce i suoi problemi più o meno.He understands her problems more or less.This example demonstrates using più o meno to describe understanding someone's problems.Tatoeba #3761408 by Guybrush88, translation #301128 by CM
- Circa 50 persone parteciperanno al convegno.Approximately 50 people will attend the conference.
- Il volo atterrerà pressappoco alle 17:00.The flight will land around 5:00 PM, more or less.
- Credo che il progetto richiederà, a grandi linee, un mese.I believe the project will take, more or less, a month.
- Ci vorranno su per giù tre ore per arrivare in città.It will take around three hours to reach the city, more or less.
- Il prezzo sarà più o meno 50 euro.The price will be around 50 euros, give or take.
- 16 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lorenzo and Sofia are discussing how long it takes to get to the station.
- LorenzoCi vogliono più o meno dieci minuti.It takes more or less ten minutes.
- SofiaDavvero? È molto vicino allora.Really? It's very close then.
- LorenzoSì, se non c'è troppo traffico.Yes, if there isn't too much traffic.
- SofiaVa bene, grazie per l'informazione.Okay, thanks for the information.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “more or less” translations and entries più o meno, su per giù, approssimativamente, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (più, o, meno) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries giù, meno, o, per, più, su, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
