Meanings
alternative mostlie · alternative moastly
- not comparableMainly or chiefly; for the most part; usually, generally, on the whole.
They're mostly good people, although they have made a few mistakes.
1 more example
Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.
2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3 - not comparableobsoleteTo the greatest extent; most.
She was to be their chosen visitor, she was to be for weeks under the same roof with the person whose society she mostly prized [...]!
1803 (date written), [Jane Austen], Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
adverbin large part; mainly or chiefly
adverbusually; as a rule
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From most + -ly. The sense “probably” is a calque from Indian languages such as Tamil அனேகமாக (aṉēkamāka).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque gehienbat
- gehienbatfor the most part
Bulgarian в по-голямата си част, главно
- в по-голямата си част (v po-goljamata si čast)for the most part
- главно (glavno)for the most part
- в повечето случаи (v povečeto slučai)for the most part
- обикновено (obiknoveno)for the most part
Catalan sobretot, per damunt de tot
- sobretotfor the most part
- per damunt de totfor the most part
Chinese Mandarin 大多, 大抵
- 大多 (dàduō)for the most part
- 大抵 (dàdǐ)for the most part
- 大都 (dàdū)for the most part
Czech převážně, většinou
- převážněfor the most part
- většinoufor the most part
- vesměsfor the most part
Dutch meestal, overwegend
- meestalfor the most part
- overwegendfor the most part
- voornamelijkfor the most part
Esperanto plimulte, plejparte
- plimultefor the most part
- plejpartefor the most part
Finnish enimmäkseen, lähinnä
- enimmäkseenfor the most part
- lähinnäfor the most part
French surtout, majoritairement
- surtoutfor the most part
- majoritairementfor the most part
German meistens, überwiegend
- meistensfor the most part
- überwiegendfor the most part
- weitgehendfor the most part
- größtenteilsfor the most part
- zumeistfor the most part
Hindi ज़्यादातर, अधिकतर
- ज़्यादातर (zyādātar)for the most part
- अधिकतर (adhiktar)for the most part
Hungarian nagyrészt, jórészt
- nagyrésztfor the most part
- jórésztfor the most part
- zömmelfor the most part
- túlnyomórésztfor the most part
- jobbárafor the most part
Irish go formhór, d'fhormhór
- go formhórfor the most part
- d'fhormhórfor the most part
Italian soprattutto, per lo più
- soprattuttofor the most part
- per lo piùfor the most part
Japanese 大方は, 大体は
- 大方は (ōkata wa)for the most part
- 大体は (daitai wa)for the most part
- たいてい (taitei)for the most part
Korean 대체로, 대개
- 대체로 (daechero)for the most part
- 대개 (daegae)for the most part
Latin plērumque
- plērumquefor the most part
Polish głównie, przeważnie
- główniefor the most part
- przeważniefor the most part
- w głównej mierzefor the most part
Portuguese sobretudo, principalmente
- sobretudofor the most part
- principalmentefor the most part
- normalmentefor the most part
Romanian în special, mai ales
- în specialfor the most part
- mai alesfor the most part
- mai cu seamăfor the most part
Russian по бо́льшей ча́сти, гла́вным о́бразом
- по бо́льшей ча́сти (po bólʹšej části)for the most part
- гла́вным о́бразом (glávnym óbrazom)for the most part
- ча́ще всего́ (čášče vsevó)for the most part
- в основно́м (v osnovnóm)for the most part
Slovak predovšetkým
- predovšetkýmfor the most part
Spanish más que nada, en su mayoría
- más que nadafor the most part
- en su mayoríafor the most part
Swedish mestadels
- mestadelsfor the most part
Tamil பெரும்பாலும்
- பெரும்பாலும் (perumpālum)for the most part
Ukrainian головним чином, здебільшого
- головним чином (holovnym čynom)for the most part
- здебільшого (zdebilʹšoho)for the most part
- переважно (perevažno)for the most part
- звичайно (zvyčajno)for the most part
Urdu زیاداتر
- زیاداتر (zyādātar)for the most part
Welsh yn bennaf, at ei gilydd
- yn bennaffor the most part
- at ei gilyddfor the most part
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with mostly
All rhymes →Cite this entry
mostly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mostly
“mostly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mostly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mostly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mostly.
Source: mostly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.