adverb
-
almost entirely; chiefly
-
on many or most occasions; usually
Etymology
Origin of mostly
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The weather will likely be “mostly sunny” and breezy in the valleys and mountains.
From Los Angeles Times
Stocks mostly rose on Friday but ended a holiday-shortened week on a down note.
From Barron's
The story of the rise and fall of African enslavement is often presented as a national story in the United States — and a mostly Southern one — rather than as the hemispheric phenomenon that it was.
From Los Angeles Times
Shops, gas stations and other businesses were mostly closed.
From Los Angeles Times
The protests have affected, to varying degrees, at least 30 different cities, mostly medium-sized, according to an AFP tally based on official announcements and media reports.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
