all in all

adverb

All things considered.

“There were twenty absentees all in all.”

Similar
overallon the wholein generalgenerallybottom lineall infor the most partmostly
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Meanings

adverball in all (not comparable)
  1. modalnot comparableset phraseAll things considered.

    All in all, it's not a bad little restaurant.

    3 more examples

    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, an enjoyable day.

    2025 November 12, 'Mystery Shopper', “Is Devon the cream of the crop?”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 48

    Synonyms: overall, on the whole, in general, generally, bottom line, all in, for the most part, mostly

  2. not comparableAltogether: with everything included, with all factors or parts having been added up.

    There were twenty absentees all in all.

    Synonyms: in all, all told

  3. archaicnot comparableAltogether, 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

    Synonyms: in every way

nounall in all (uncountable)
  1. uncountableEverything 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
    2 more examples

    […] 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

    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

    Synonyms: all

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbAll things considered.

Similar
overallon the wholein generalgenerallybottom lineall infor the most partmostlyall things consideredaltogetherbroadlyas a rulebasicallyby and largechieflyfecklyfor the most partgenerallyin the large

adverbAltogether: with everything included, with all factors or parts having been added up.

Similar
in allall told

adverbAltogether, wholly.

Similar
in every way

nounEverything that matters; the only thing of importance.

Similar
all

More synonyms by meaning

adverbwith everything considered (and neglecting details)

Similar
on the wholealtogethertout ensemble
Also see
allall inall things consideredall toldaltogetherbottom lineby and largeessentiallyin allin a wordin the mainlastlymostlyon the wholetout ensemble

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Catalan en definitiva, al capdavall
  • en definitivagenerally
  • al capdavallgenerally
Chinese Mandarin 總的來說 /总的来说, 總而言之 /总而言之
  • 總的來說 /总的来说 (zǒng de lái shuō)generally
  • 總而言之 /总而言之 (zǒng'éryánzhī)generally
Czech tak či tak
  • tak či takgenerally
Danish alt i alt, i alt
  • alt i altgenerally
  • i altgenerally
  • alt taget i betragtninggenerally
Dutch al met al
  • al met algenerally
Finnish kaiken kaikkiaan, kaikkiaan
  • kaiken kaikkiaangenerally
  • kaikkiaangenerally
  • summa summarumgenerally
French l'un dans l'autre, tout compte fait
  • l'un dans l'autregenerally
  • tout compte faitgenerally
German alles in allem
  • alles in allemgenerally
Greek όταν ληφθούν όλα υπόψιν
  • όταν ληφθούν όλα υπόψιν (ótan lifthoún óla ypópsin)generally
Hungarian összességében
  • összességébengenerally
Italian tutto sommato, nel complesso
  • tutto sommatogenerally
  • nel complessogenerally
  • nell'insiemegenerally
Korean 일반적으로
  • 일반적으로 (ilbanjeogeuro)generally
Norwegian Bokmål alt i alt, alt tatt i betraktning
  • alt i altgenerally
  • alt tatt i betraktninggenerally
  • i det store og det helegenerally
Polish ogólnie rzecz biorąc
  • ogólnie rzecz biorącgenerally
Portuguese de todo
  • de todogenerally
Russian в о́бщем, в це́лом
  • в о́бщем (v óbščem)generally
  • в це́лом (v célom)generally
  • в ито́ге (v itóge)generally
  • в коне́чном счёте (v konéčnom sčóte)generally
Cite this entry
APA

all in all. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20in%20all

MLA

“all in all.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20in%20all. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “all in all,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20in%20all.

Source: all in all on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.