on the whole

English

Alternative forms

• upon the whole
• upon the matter, upon the whole matter (archaic)

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

on the whole

1. (idiomatic) For the most part; apart from some insignificant details.

   The language was wrong for the period, but, on the whole, I enjoyed the film.

   • 1849, Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Monday:

     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.

   • 1910, E. M. Forster, chapter 5, in Howards End:

     [H]is class was near enough her own for its manners to vex her. But she found him interesting on the whole.

   • 2012 January 18, Simon Shuster, “The Anti-Putin Movement: An Interview with the Blogger in Chief”, in Time, retrieved 18 August 2013:

     Both Maidan and Tahrir were peaceful. Maidan was absolutely peaceful, Tahrir saw some unrest but was still peaceful on the whole.

Synonyms

• all things considered, by and large; see also Thesaurus:mostly

Translations

for the most part

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 總的來說／总的来说 (zh) (zǒngdeláishuō), 大體上／大体上 (zh) (dàtǐshang), 大體而言／大体而言 (dàtǐ éryán), 全盤看來／全盘看来 (quánpán kànlái), 一般 (zh) (yībān), 大致上 (dàzhìshang)

• Danish: i det store og hele, stort set
• Dutch: in het algemeen, grotendeels (nl)
• Finnish: kokonaisuutena
• French: dans l’ensemble (fr)
• Hungarian: nagyrészt (hu), egészében (hu), összességében (hu)
• Italian: nel complesso, nell'insieme
• Japanese: 概して (ja) (がいして, gaishite)
• Korean: 대체로 (ko) (daechero)
• Persian: به طور کلی (fa) (be tor-e kolli)
• Polish: ogólnie rzecz biorąc, generalnie (pl)
• Russian: в це́лом (ru) (v célom)
• Scottish Gaelic: san fharsaingeachd
• Spanish: en general
• Swedish: på det hela taget, på det stora hela
• Telugu: మొత్తమ్మీద (te) (mottammīda)