Meanings
- idiomaticmodalnot comparableGenerally speaking; in terms of the big picture.
Of course some areas are more dangerous than others, but all things considered Glasgow is quite a safe place to live.
Synonyms: all in all, by and large, for the most part, in the main, on balance, on the whole, all in all, altogether
- idiomaticmodalnot comparableDespite possible indications to the contrary.
Though only a few people attended the premiere, all things considered the play was rather a success.
3 more examples
“[…] and all things considered, I don't much regret that this affair with Miss Amory is manquée, though I wished for it once—in fact, all things considered, I am very glad of it.”
1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter XXXVII, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 356Yet, all things considered, she was not of an evil mind or an unkindly disposition.
1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC, page 159All things considered, he would not have been such a bad match for Ida, only that I knew the child did not really care about him, and there was Georgie breaking her proud, patient little heart for his sake, and nobody saw it but one old woman, who had been through it all herself, and knew what it meant.
1876, Henrietta H. Holdich, “My Georgie”, in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Harper & Brothers, page 421Synonyms: actually, as a matter of fact, in fact, overall, above a bit, actually, as a matter of fact, by right
- idiomaticmodalnot comparableGiven the constraints of the situation; relative to what would have been understandable.
Although rationing was strict, they had a couple of chickens and a vegetable patch and they ate well, all things considered.
2 more examples
We had a good stock of tea, with which we treated our friends, as above, and we lived very cheerfully and well, all things considered.
1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLCJurgis lost his temper very little, however, all things considered.
1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, chapter VII, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906, →OCLCSynonyms: nevertheless, otherwise, considering
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbGenerally speaking; in terms of the big picture.
adverbDespite possible indications to the contrary.
adverbGiven the constraints of the situation; relative to what would have been understandable.
Translations
Catalan al capdavall
- al capdavallgenerally speaking, all in all
Chinese Mandarin 總而言之 /总而言之
- 總而言之 /总而言之 (zǒng'éryánzhī)generally speaking, all in all
Finnish kaiken kaikkiaan, olosuhteisiin nähden
- kaiken kaikkiaangenerally speaking, all in all
- olosuhteisiin nähdengenerally speaking, all in all
- yleisesti ottaengenerally speaking, all in all
French tout bien considéré, tout bien réfléchi
- tout bien considérégenerally speaking, all in all
- tout bien réfléchigenerally speaking, all in all
German alles in allem
- alles in allemgenerally speaking, all in all
Hungarian mindent egybevetve, összességében
- mindent egybevetvegenerally speaking, all in all
- összességébengenerally speaking, all in all
- végső sorongenerally speaking, all in all
- végeredménybengenerally speaking, all in all
- mindent figyelembe vévegenerally speaking, all in all
- mindent összevetvegenerally speaking, all in all
Irish i dtaca le holc
- i dtaca le holcgenerally speaking, all in all
Italian tutto sommato
- tutto sommatogenerally speaking, all in all
Polish ogólnie rzecz biorąc
- ogólnie rzecz biorącgenerally speaking, all in all
Portuguese no final das contas
- no final das contasgenerally speaking, all in all
Russian учи́тывая все обстоя́тельства, учи́тывая всё
- учи́тывая все обстоя́тельства (učítyvaja vse obstojátelʹstva)generally speaking, all in all
- учи́тывая всё (učítyvaja vsjo)generally speaking, all in all
- приня́в всё во внима́ние (prinjáv vsjo vo vnimánije)generally speaking, all in all
Spanish bien mirado, en definitiva
- bien miradogenerally speaking, all in all
- en definitivagenerally speaking, all in all
Swedish i det stora hela
- i det stora helagenerally speaking, all in all
Tamil கூட்டிக் கழித்துப் பார்த்தால்
- கூட்டிக் கழித்துப் பார்த்தால் (kūṭṭik kaḻittup pārttāl)generally speaking, all in all
Cite this entry
all things considered. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20things%20considered
“all things considered.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20things%20considered. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “all things considered,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20things%20considered.
Source: all things considered on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.