on average

prepositional phrase

Expressed as a measure of central tendency (usually the arithmetic mean).

“People these days live longer on average”

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on the average
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Meanings

prepositional phrase

alternative on the average · alternative on an average

  1. Expressed as a measure of central tendency (usually the arithmetic mean).

    The journey takes, on average, two hours.

    2 more examples

    On average, students spend about 20 hours a week studying.

    U.S. teens spend on average 5 hours per day on social media; nearly half are online constantly.

    2025 December 9, Rachel Konrad and Matt Abrahams, “Why Young People Are Struggling to Communicate”, in TIME
  2. idiomaticUsually, typically; as a rule; as often as not.

    People these days live longer on average

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbtypically

Similar
on the average

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Bulgarian средно
  • средно (sredno)as a measure of central tendency
Chinese Mandarin 平均
  • 平均 (píngjūn de)as a measure of central tendency
Czech průměrně, v průměru
  • průměrněas a measure of central tendency
  • v průměruas a measure of central tendency
Danish i gennemsnit
  • i gennemsnitas a measure of central tendency
Dutch gemiddeld
  • gemiddeldas a measure of central tendency
Finnish keskimäärin
  • keskimäärinas a measure of central tendency
French en moyenne
  • en moyenneas a measure of central tendency
German durchschnittlich, im Durchschnitt
  • durchschnittlichas a measure of central tendency
  • im Durchschnittas a measure of central tendency
Hungarian átlagosan
  • átlagosanas a measure of central tendency
Icelandic að meðaltali
  • að meðaltalias a measure of central tendency
Irish ar an meán
  • ar an meánas a measure of central tendency
Italian in media
  • in mediaas a measure of central tendency
Polish średnio, przeciętnie
  • średnioas a measure of central tendency
  • przeciętnieas a measure of central tendency
Romanian în medie
  • în medieas a measure of central tendency
Russian в сре́днем
  • в сре́днем (v srédnem)as a measure of central tendency
Spanish en promedio, como promedio
  • en promedioas a measure of central tendency
  • como promedioas a measure of central tendency
  • por término medioas a measure of central tendency
Swedish i genomsnitt
  • i genomsnittas a measure of central tendency
Welsh ar gyfartaledd
  • ar gyfartaleddas a measure of central tendency
Cite this entry
APA

on average. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20average

MLA

“on average.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20average. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on average,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20average.

Source: on average on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.