Meanings
- not comparableIn a way that is not whole; partially, incompletely.
The task was a novel and not unwholly congenial one, but he finally got the attention of a saleswoman and made his wishes known.
1911, Harper's Magazine1 more example
...but the growth of the house from the blueprint to the completed building is a process not unwholly like that of the growth of the kitten into a cat...
1971, Kenneth Ewart Boulding, Collected PapersSynonyms: partly
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn a way that is not whole; partially, incompletely.
Origin
From unwhole + -ly or un- + wholly.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
unwholly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unwholly
“unwholly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unwholly. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unwholly,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unwholly.
Source: unwholly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.