Meanings
- idiomaticnot comparableIn most aspects; mostly; generally.
The sky is overcast for the most part.
5 more examples
For the most part, the crowd was orderly.
Until the 1600s, English was, for the most part, spoken in England.
O, it offends mee to the Soule, to ſee a robuſtious Pery-wig-pated Fellow, teare a Paſſion to tatters, to verie ragges, to ſplit the eares of the Groundlings: who (for the moſt part) are capeable of nothing, but inexplicable dumbe ſhewes, & noiſe:[…]
c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 266, column 2Such souls can with assistance rise to better things, but it is a very arduous task and for the most part they remain rejoicers in evil.
1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 276For the most part they were small standard gauge 0-6-0 side tanks of the type illustrated, with long tapered chimneys and an unusual feature for the Continent in the shape of domeless boilers, the protuberance just behind the chimney being a sandbox.
1941 August, “Notes and News: The Swiss South Eastern Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 376Synonyms: by and large, on the whole
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn most aspects; mostly; generally.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Ancient Greek τὸ πλέον
- τὸ πλέον (tò pléon)mostly
Chinese Mandarin 大部份, 大多
- 大部份 (dàbùfen)mostly
- 大多 (dàduō)mostly
- 通常 (tōngcháng)mostly
Danish for det meste
- for det mestemostly
Dutch grotendeels, meestal
- grotendeelsmostly
- meestalmostly
Esperanto plejmulte, ĉefparte
- plejmultemostly
- ĉefpartemostly
- grandpartemostly
Finnish enimmäkseen, etupäässä
- enimmäkseenmostly
- etupäässämostly
- useimmitenmostly
- yleisesti ottaenmostly
- pääasiallisestimostly
French dans l'ensemble, en grande partie
- dans l'ensemblemostly
- en grande partiemostly
German größtenteils, überwiegend
- größtenteilsmostly
- überwiegendmostly
- vorwiegendmostly
Hungarian nagyrészt
- nagyrésztmostly
Icelandic mestmegnis
- mestmegnismostly
Irish den chuid is mó
- den chuid is mómostly
Italian solitamente, generalmente
- solitamentemostly
- generalmentemostly
- in prevalenzamostly
Latin plērumque
- plērumquemostly
Polish przeważnie
- przeważniemostly
Portuguese em geral
- em geralmostly
Russian в основно́м, по бо́льшей ча́сти
- в основно́м (v osnovnóm)mostly
- по бо́льшей ча́сти (po bólʹšej části)mostly
- в о́бщем и цело́м (v óbščem i celóm)mostly
- бо́льшей ча́стью (bólʹšej částʹju)mostly
Spanish en su mayoría, en su mayor parte
- en su mayoríamostly
- en su mayor partemostly
- por la mayor partemostly
- por la mayoríamostly
- en la mayoríamostly
- en la mayor partemostly
Swedish i stor utsträckning, mestadels
- i stor utsträckningmostly
- mestadelsmostly
- för det mestamostly
- till största delenmostly
Cite this entry
for the most part. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/for%20the%20most%20part
“for the most part.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/for%20the%20most%20part. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “for the most part,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/for%20the%20most%20part.
Source: for the most part on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.