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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

all in all en · ADV

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (modal, not-comparable, qualifier:set phrase) All things considered.
    • Near-synonyms: for the most part, mostly; see also Thesaurus:mostly
    • There are, of course, certain differences of detail; for example, the placing of the safety valves on the boiler barrel behind the dome, which follows the practice in the Riddles 2-8-0 and 2-10-0 locomotives for the Ministry of Supply; but taken all in all, Britannia's boiler has a closer affinity with the Doncaster designs than with any other. 1951 April, Stirling Everard, “A Matter of Pedigree”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 273:
    • All in all, it's not a bad little restaurant.
    • All in all, an enjoyable day. 2025 November 12, 'Mystery Shopper', “Is Devon the cream of the crop?”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 48:
  2. (not-comparable) Altogether: with everything included, with all factors or parts having been added up.
    • There were twenty absentees all in all.
  3. (archaic, not-comparable) Altogether, wholly.
    • And I perceived no touch of change, ⁠No hint of death in all his frame, ⁠But found him all in all the same, […] 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XIV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 23:

Coordinates

still and all

Synonyms

all in all · all told · on the whole · basically · all things considered · mainly · in every way · broadly · primarily · in all · in general · altogether · all in · largely · mostly · chiefly · by and large · generally · bottom line · mostly · for the most part · overall · pretty well · overall · feckly · on the whole · for the most part · in the main · principally · predominantly · as a rule · generally · in the large

Translations (32)

ca al capdavall (generally) · fr l'un dans l'autre (generally) · ru в ито́ге (generally) · fi kaikkiaan (generally) · fi kaiken kaikkiaan (generally) · it nell'insieme (generally) · it nel complesso (generally) · fi summa summarum (generally) · nb alt i alt (generally) · ru в о́бщем (generally) · cmn 總而言之 /总而言之 (generally) · nn alt i alt (generally) · nl al met al (generally) · nb alt tatt i betraktning (generally) · de alles in allem (generally) · cs tak či tak (generally) · da alt taget i betragtning (generally) · gl en xeral (generally) · nb i det store og det hele (generally) · da i alt (generally) · fr tout compte fait (generally) · it tutto sommato (generally) · hu összességében (generally) · ru в це́лом (generally) · cmn 總的來說 /总的来说 (generally) · pl ogólnie rzecz biorąc (generally) · ru в коне́чном счёте (generally) · el όταν ληφθούν όλα υπόψιν (generally) · pt de todo (generally) · da alt i alt (generally) · ko 일반적으로 (generally) · ca en definitiva (generally)

all in all en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (uncountable) Everything that matters; the only thing of importance.
    • Her mother had been all in all to her: she had never seemed to have any separate existence from that of her child. 1828, Constantine Henry Phipps Marquess of Normanby, Yes and No: a Tale of the Day, page 12:
    • You saw us all in happier days before he married me. I was all in all then to him; or would he have given up his fortune, his family, as he nobly did to make me happy? 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
    • […] to realize, by constant faith, the all-sufficiency of his redeeming power and love — to make him all his salvation and all his desire, the Alpha and Omega of all his hope, his all in all. 1822, William Goode, Essays on all the scriptural names and titles of Christ, page 181:

Synonyms

all