How do you use the word "thereabouts" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "thereabouts" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "thereabouts": He went off to the People's Square or somewhere thereabouts. I might arrive in Kashgar or somewhere thereabouts tomorrow.

Thereabouts Meaning

/ðɛəɹəˈbaʊts/

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

advSynonym of thereabout:

advSynonym of thereabout:, About or near that place.

Sentence Examples

He went off to the People's Square or somewhere thereabouts.

I might arrive in Kashgar or somewhere thereabouts tomorrow.

CEFR Practice Quiz

The temperature was around 30 degrees or ____ according to the forecast.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

He arrived at the park at exactly three o'clock or ____, and he waited for his friends near the main gate today.

Word Origin & History

The adverb is derived from Middle English there-aboutes, þare aboutes (“of a place or an object: around there, in its vicinity; of time: about then, around that time”) [and other forms], from ther (“in that place, in those places, there; on that; thither, to that place; from there, thence; at that time; thereupon; in that situation, under those circumstances; in that case, with regard to that”) (from Old English þǣr (“there”)) + aboutes (“in all directions, around”, adverb), aboutes (“in all directions from, on all sides of; near; concerned with”, preposition) (from aboute, abouten (“so as to surround; so as to cover; on the border or edge; as measured around the outside; to as to travel around something; so as to revolve about an axis or centre; aside; in all directions; in the vicinity; in connection with something; in several places; everywhere, throughout; to all or everyone; almost, approximately; concerning; in succession; so as to be or happen”, adverb), aboute, abouten (“surrounding; covering; over; upon; on the border of; in all directions; in the vicinity of, near to; in several places; everywhere, throughout; almost, approximately; concerning; engaged in; on behalf of”, preposition) (from Old English abūtan, onbūtan (“about; round about; on; on the outside”)) + -s (suffix forming adverbs)); see further at thereabout. The English word is analysable as thereabout + -s (suffix forming adverbs). The noun may result from a confusion of thereabouts with whereabouts. The word is attested later than thereabout.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"[W]e reſolv'd to put into a ſmall River, which however had a Depth enough of Water for us, and to ſee if we could, either over Land, or by the Ship's Pinnace, come to know what Ships were in any Port thereabouts." — 1719, [Daniel Defoe], The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 266:

"Quite a few minutes would be spun out, for instance, at the smallish town of Chirk, but to me the dalliance was generally worthwhile, except in wet weather, because of the increasing beauty of the wooded hill scenery thereabouts." — 1955 January, R. S. McNaught, “From the Severn to the Mersey by Great Western”, in Railway Magazine, page 18:

"Dans added: “We talk about outer space and trips to Mars and then when you realise Nuuk is a three-hour flight from New York City, or thereabouts, it gets interesting.”" — 2025 March 8, Miranda Bryant, quoting Tom Dans, “‘It’s very unpredictable’: divided Greenland prepares to vote amid Trump-inspired existential crisis”, in The Observer, →ISSN, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2025:

"We ſtay'd by it a quarter of an Hour or thereabouts, 'till the Powder in the Eyes, and Mouth, and Ears of the Idol blew up; and we could perceive had ſplit and deform'd the Shape; […]" — 1719, [Daniel Defoe], The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 338:

"Fiue or ſix thouſand horſe I ſed, I will ſay true, or thereabouts ſet downe, for Ile ſpeake truth." — c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 247, column 2:

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