Word.ws English Dictionary

in the ballpark

in the ballpark prepositional phrase: in the same general vicinity (as); somewhat similar (to); typically construed with of.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (figuratively) In the same general vicinity (as); somewhat similar (to); typically construed with of.

Origin of in the ballpark

An early source is the 1945 book Memoirs of a Shy Photographer by Kenneth Patchen: 1945, Kenneth Patchen, Memoirs Of a Shy Photographer, New Directions: "You're out in left field." "And you're out of the ballpark!" In context, the first speaker is suggesting the listener's perspective is fringe; which may also be the origin of the idiom "out in left field." The response keeps the baseball metaphor, and suggests the first speaker is even further fringe than themselves. In 1950, a scientific paper related to the US atomic program and/or ballistic missile development decides on a range the area of a standard baseball park as an "on target" area for a desired missile landing. Thus, a missile that lands "in the ballpark" was considered sufficiently accurate (for nuclear weapons at least). Later, in the 1960s, the term "ballpark" would be repurposed for the name of the desired landing zone for de-orbiting satellites.

Questions about in the ballpark

What does in the ballpark mean?
In the ballpark means in the same general vicinity (as); somewhat similar (to); typically construed with of.
What part of speech is in the ballpark?
In the ballpark is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in the ballpark in the dictionary

  1. in the arms of Murphy
  2. in the article of death
  3. in the ascendant
  4. in the back seat
  5. in the bag
  6. in the ballpark
  7. in the bargain
  8. in the barrel
  9. in the bed
  10. in the bedroom
  11. in the biblical sense

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in the ballpark (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “in the ballpark.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/in_the_ballpark. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.