mostly

English

Alternative forms

• mostlie (obsolete)
• moastly (obsolete)

Etymology

most +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈməʊstli/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmoʊstli/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -əʊstli, (General American) -oʊstli

Adverb

mostly (not comparable)

1. Mainly or chiefly; for the most part; usually, generally, on the whole.

   They're mostly good people, although they have made a few mistakes.

   • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3:

     Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.

2. (obsolete) To the greatest extent; most.
   • The template Template:RQ:Austen Northanger Abbey does not use the parameter(s):

     url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mDUbXHRIbRIC&dq=northanger+abbey+search+austen&pg=PP1&ots=EDH1Xu36el&sig=J7fVUwXmydAD36S8oLTWv2-ICNk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA163,M1

     Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.
     1803 (date written), [Jane Austen], Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. , volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, , 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:

     She was to be their chosen visitor, she was to be for weeks under the same roof with the person whose society she mostly prized [...]!

Synonyms

• (mainly or chiefly): by and large, in the main, more often than not, largely, predominantly, principally; see also Thesaurus:mostly

Derived terms

• mostly plus

Translations