Futureroughly

Futureroughly is a nonce word used to signal that a forecast or statement about future events is approximate, imprecise, or contingent on a rough trajectory. It is most often encountered in informal discourse among futurists, analysts, and online communities.

Grammatically, it can function as an adverb meaning “in a rough or approximate way about the future” or as an attributive modifier. It is typically placed before the element it qualifies, such as a timeline, growth rate, or impact. For example: “Futureroughly, the economy will recover by the mid-2020s.” “The futureroughly projected population increase is about 20 percent.”

Etymology and status: The term is a portmanteau of future and roughly. It has no formal standard definition, no official dictionary entry, and its usage is informal and variable. It likely emerged in online discussions and speculative writing in the 2010s and 2020s, and remains primarily within informal or playful contexts rather than formal discourse.

Usage notes: Because it is not precise, futureroughly is best avoided in formal reports or policy documents. In casual writing, it can signal hedging or a rough sense of scale without committing to a specific figure or date. Writers should consider their audience, as the term may be interpreted differently by readers.

See also: hedging language; forecasting; uncertainty; probabilistic reasoning.