on the whole
33
3.3
- idiom
:
en general
- Other measures also seem, on the whole, immune to changes in the economy.
- on the whole, however
- yet on the whole
- on the whole, it seems
And so Americans, I think on the whole refrain from wars.
- And so Americans, I think on the whole refrain from wars.
- I think on the whole I'm feeling quite good.
- But I think on the whole it's been turned into property.
- And I would say on the whole, Vonata has pulled that off.
- So on the whole, nobody's going to tamper with food.
- So on the whole, I think these drugs are positives.
- So I'd like to think that that shows that on the whole, I tried to get things right.
- And I think, you know, Boris Johnson's instincts are actually on the whole libertarian.
- They actually are more vulnerable to the impact of trade than are whites on the whole.
- And the Irish people on the whole don't have a problem with the migrants or the refugees.
Examples
-
I feel very pleased with myself on the whole and also about the future.
Fiction book (1994) -
We're all terribly worried about him, of course, but on the whole, I'm coping well.
-
OK, I think people on the whole want to be healthy.
-
But you know, on the whole, I think players do care.
-
But I think on the whole we are better at doing it.
-
But I think on the whole it's been turned into property.
-
I think on the whole I'm feeling quite good.
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On the whole, what we do is necessary.
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The past quarter-century has been, on the whole, productive in this regard.
Academic text (1992) -
On the whole, I think on the whole, our efforts have made a positive difference.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Usually or in most cases
616
3.1
Including all parts to give a general view
219
1.6
Says something is true most of the time, not about small details
189
3.0
In total when you add everything
76
3.2
A way to say you have thought about everything
1
3.7
To say something is true in general
In a general way without details
When you think about everything together
How General
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'generally' is directly derivable from combining 'on' (about/with respect to) with 'the whole' (the entirety), so a learner who knows the constituents can infer it as 'with respect to the whole/overall'. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically (e.g., French 'dans l'ensemble', Spanish 'en conjunto/en general'), making the phrase predictable for B1 learners.
Etymology
On the whole comes from the simple idea of looking at the complete thing, not just one part. When you look at the whole you see the whole picture, so 'on the whole' means 'in general'.