tinyroughly

Tinyroughly is a colloquial neologism used to indicate that a value or object is both very small and only approximately defined. It can function as either an adjective (tinyroughly sized components) or an adverb before a measurement (tinyroughly 2 mm). The term signals that the author intends a rough estimate while emphasizing a small scale.

Origin and usage. The word combines tiny and roughly and appears in informal technical discussions, prototyping notes, and maker communities. It emerged in the late 2000s to early 2010s and has been kept alive in casual contexts by designers who want to acknowledge imprecision without resorting to verbose phrases. It is not standardized or widely recognized in formal writing.

Guidelines for use. Because tinyroughly is informal, it should be avoided in scientific papers or regulated documentation. In formal contexts, use approximately, roughly, or about. When used, place tinyroughly before the measurement or dimension, for example tinyroughly 0.8 mm or tinyroughly 1.6 cm.

Examples include: The spacer is tinyroughly 1.2 cm long; the gap is tinyroughly 0.25 mm; the batch contains tinyroughly a dozen units.

See also: approximate, rough estimate, neologism.