Roles played in customs -- roughly (4,2,4)
I believe the answer is:
more or less
'roughly' is the definition.
(I know that roughly can be written as more or less)
'roles played in customs' is the wordplay.
'played' indicates an anagram (letters playing around).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'customs' becomes 'mores' (as in social mores).
'roles' anagrammed gives 'orles'.
'orles' placed inside 'mores' is 'MORE-OR-LESS'.
(Other definitions for more or less that I've seen before include "As good as" , "Effectively" , "to a certain extent" , "Roughly" .)