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Business English vocabulary · Office Idioms and Phrases

Ballpark figure

Meaning in business english, with examples

/ˈbɔːlpɑːrk ˌfɪɡjər/idiomCommon term

In business english, ballpark figure means: A rough estimate of a number, such as a price or cost, given when the exact figure is not yet known.

In Turkish: kabaca tahmin, yaklaşık rakam, tahmini tutar

How it is used

Common in early talks with clients and in budgeting: 'Can you give me a ballpark figure?', 'Just a ballpark.' 'In the ballpark' means roughly right. It comes from baseball, where a ballpark is a stadium.

Example sentences

  1. I know you need to check, but can you give me a ballpark figure for the installation?

  2. A ballpark figure would be around 20,000 dollars, but please don't treat it as a quote.

Common collocations

  • give a ballpark figure
  • a rough ballpark figure
  • in the ballpark
  • ballpark estimate
  • bottom lineThe most important fact or the final position in a discussion; also a company's profit or loss, shown on the last line of its income statement.
  • proposalA formal plan or offer, written or spoken, that is put forward for others such as a client or management to consider and accept.
  • dealAn agreement between two or more sides, especially a business arrangement to buy, sell or work together on agreed terms.
  • negotiateTo discuss something formally with another side in order to reach an agreement both can accept, for example on price or contract terms.

More terms: Office Idioms and Phrases

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