ON THE WHOLE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does on the whole mean? 

• ON THE WHOLE (adverb)
  The adverb ON THE WHOLE has 1 sense:

1. with everything considered (and neglecting details)

  Familiarity information: ON THE WHOLE used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ON THE WHOLE (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

With everything considered (and neglecting details)

Synonyms:

all in all; altogether; on the whole; tout ensemble

Context example:

all in all, it's not so bad

 Context examples 

"I'll go and tell Amy," said Meg, feeling a little hurt, yet rather relieved on the whole, for she did not like nursing, and Jo did.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

On the whole, and between ourselves, it will be a brighter house without him.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then she threw herself upon Heaven for help in her need, and went away, and journeyed on the whole night, till at last she came to a large wood.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

On the whole, he thinks that Barclay’s devotion to his wife was greater than his wife’s to Barclay.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

On the whole, I would recommend you to take to Doctors' Commons kindly, David.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I thank you, but all that you mention is nothing to me; on the whole earth there is no comfort which I am capable of receiving.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

You have proved yourself, on the whole, less faulty than I had believed you.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Nature meant me to be, on the whole, a good man, Miss Eyre; one of the better kind, and you see I am not so.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

On the whole, however, the betting was in favour of Wilson, for Bristol and the west country stood by him to a man, whilst London opinion was divided.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He is a silent, morose man, but he has, on the whole, an excellent record in the public service.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)