Meanings
alternative upon the whole · alternative archaic upon the matter · alternative archaic upon the whole matter
- idiomaticFor the most part; apart from some insignificant details.
The language was wrong for the period, but, on the whole, I enjoyed the film.
3 more examples
Davis had a ball lodged in his body, and his right hand shot off; but on the whole, he seems to have been less damaged than his companion.
1849, Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Monday[H]is class was near enough her own for its manners to vex her. But she found him interesting on the whole.
1910, E. M. Forster, chapter 5, in Howards EndBoth Maidan and Tahrir were peaceful. Maidan was absolutely peaceful, Tahrir saw some unrest but was still peaceful on the whole.
2012 January 18, Simon Shuster, “The Anti-Putin Movement: An Interview with the Blogger in Chief”, in Time, retrieved 18 Aug 2013Synonyms: all things considered, by and large
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseFor the most part; apart from some insignificant details.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbwith everything considered (and neglecting details)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 總的來說 /总的来说, 大體上 /大体上
- 總的來說 /总的来说 (zǒngdeláishuō)for the most part
- 大體上 /大体上 (dàtǐshang)for the most part
- 大體而言 /大体而言 (dàtǐ éryán)for the most part
- 全盤看來 /全盘看来 (quánpán kànlái)for the most part
- 一般 (yībān)for the most part
- 大致上 (dàzhìshang)for the most part
Danish i det store og hele, stort set
- i det store og helefor the most part
- stort setfor the most part
Dutch in het algemeen, grotendeels
- in het algemeenfor the most part
- grotendeelsfor the most part
Finnish kokonaisuutena
- kokonaisuutenafor the most part
French dans l'ensemble
- dans l'ensemblefor the most part
German im Großen und Ganzen
- im Großen und Ganzenfor the most part
Hungarian nagyrészt, egészében
- nagyrésztfor the most part
- egészébenfor the most part
- összességébenfor the most part
Italian nel complesso, nell'insieme
- nel complessofor the most part
- nell'insiemefor the most part
Japanese 概して
- 概して (gaishite)for the most part
Korean 대체로
- 대체로 (daechero)for the most part
Persian به طور کلی
- به طور کلی (be tor-e kolli)for the most part
Polish ogólnie rzecz biorąc, generalnie
- ogólnie rzecz biorącfor the most part
- generalniefor the most part
Russian в це́лом
- в це́лом (v célom)for the most part
Scottish Gaelic san fharsaingeachd
- san fharsaingeachdfor the most part
Spanish en general, en su conjunto
- en generalfor the most part
- en su conjuntofor the most part
Swedish på det hela taget, på det stora hela
- på det hela tagetfor the most part
- på det stora helafor the most part
Ukrainian в ціло́му
- в ціло́му (v cilómu)for the most part
Cite this entry
on the whole. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20whole
“on the whole.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20whole. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on the whole,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20whole.
Source: on the whole on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.