on the whole

adverb

with everything considered (and neglecting details) (Freq. 4)

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altogether, I'm sorry it happened

-

all in all, it's not so bad

• Syn: ↑all in all, ↑altogether, ↑tout ensemble

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OVERALL, all in all, all things considered, for the most part, in the main, in general, generally (speaking), as a (general) rule, by and large; normally, usually, more often than not, almost always, most of the time, typically, ordinarily.

→ whole

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adverb

1. : in view of all the circumstances or conditions : all things considered

on the whole it seemed best to cut the visit short

2. archaic : at the end : in conclusion : finally

3. : in general : in most instances : despite some exceptions : typically

fathers on the whole listed three times as many favorable as unfavorable reactions to having children — C.B.Palmer b. 1910

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on the whole phrase

used for talking about the general situation

It was a pretty good conference on the whole.

On the whole, she felt that the report was fair.

Thesaurus: words used to describe situations and circumstances_hyponym general words for situations and circumstances_synonym

Main entry: whole

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taking everything into account; in general

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on the whole

1

— used to say what you think is true, what should be done, etc., when you consider a situation in a general way

On the whole, it seemed best to cut the visit short.

On the whole, I think we've made progress from last week.

2 : in general : in most cases

On the whole, new parents reported that they were adapting very well to parenthood.

He did a great job on the whole.

• • •

Main Entry: ↑whole

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on the whole idiom

considering everything; in general

•

On the whole, I'm in favour of the idea.

Main entry: ↑whole_idiom