Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

on the whole en · ADP

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) For the most part; apart from some insignificant details.
    • [H]is class was near enough her own for its manners to vex her. But she found him interesting on the whole. 1910, E. M. Forster, chapter 5, in Howards End:
    • Both Maidan and Tahrir were peaceful. Maidan was absolutely peaceful, Tahrir saw some unrest but was still peaceful on the whole. 2012 January 18, Simon Shuster, “The Anti-Putin Movement: An Interview with the Blogger in Chief”, in Time, retrieved 18 Aug 2013:
    • The language was wrong for the period, but, on the whole, I enjoyed the film.
    • Davis had a ball lodged in his body, and his right hand shot off; but on the whole, he seems to have been less damaged than his companion. 1849, Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Monday:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
upon the matter alternative, archaic lexicographic
upon the whole matter alternative, archaic lexicographic
upon the whole alternative lexicographic

Synonyms

by and large · all things considered

Translations (31)

sv på det hela taget (for the most part) · it nell'insieme (for the most part) · pl ogólnie rzecz biorąc (for the most part) · cmn 大體上 /大体上 (for the most part) · cmn 總的來說 /总的来说 (for the most part) · fr dans l'ensemble (for the most part) · ja 概して (for the most part) · sv på det stora hela (for the most part) · nl grotendeels (for the most part) · cmn 全盤看來 /全盘看来 (for the most part) · ko 대체로 (for the most part) · fa به طور کلی (for the most part) · nl in het algemeen (for the most part) · hu összességében (for the most part) · gd san fharsaingeachd (for the most part) · fi kokonaisuutena (for the most part) · es en general (for the most part) · ru в це́лом (for the most part) · te మొత్తమ్మీద (for the most part) · da stort set (for the most part) · cmn 一般 (for the most part) · pl generalnie (for the most part) · cmn 大體而言 /大体而言 (for the most part) · de im Großen und Ganzen (for the most part) · it nel complesso (for the most part) · cmn 大致上 (for the most part) · hu egészében (for the most part) · uk в ціло́му (for the most part) · hu nagyrészt (for the most part) · da i det store og hele (for the most part) · es en su conjunto (for the most part)