mostly
Americanadverb
-
for the most part; in the main.
The work is mostly done.
-
chiefly; principally.
-
generally; customarily.
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.
Today, America’s China trade policy is remarkably blunt: U.S. rules mostly treat the world’s second-largest economy as a single economic counterpart.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Canavan said in long-term borrowing costs in the US were also being driven by a "record pace" of coporate borrowing in recent weeks, mostly for the development and build-out of AI and data centers.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
And a growing cohort of mostly juvenile humpbacks are thriving off New York's coast, where food is now plentiful.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
“There’s no paid staff, and we mostly support niche tech projects, like people exploring new ways to preserve trees in Morocco or to regeneratively regrow a pasture in Oregon,” Khosla told me.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
She had tried, and I had tried, to save me from everything I didn’t want, but mostly I’d been ignoring anything I wasn’t willing to face up to.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.
