total
Americanadjective
-
constituting or comprising the whole; entire; whole.
the total expenditure.
- Synonyms:
- complete
-
of or relating to the whole of something.
the total effect of a play.
-
complete in extent or degree; absolute; unqualified; utter.
a total failure.
-
involving all aspects, elements, participants, resources, etc.; unqualified; all-out.
total war.
noun
verb (used with object)
-
to bring to a total; add up.
-
to reach a total of; amount to.
-
Slang. to wreck or demolish completely.
He totaled his new car in the accident.
verb (used without object)
noun
adjective
-
complete; absolute
the evening was a total failure
a total eclipse
-
(prenominal) being or related to a total
the total number of passengers
verb
-
to amount
to total six pounds
-
(tr) to add up
to total a list of prices
-
slang (tr) to kill or badly injure (someone)
-
(tr) to damage (a vehicle) beyond repair
Usage
What does total mean? Total describes the wholeness or entirety of something, like the total amount of cake you ate last night. If you ate the total cake, you ate the entire cake (and might have felt sick afterward!). Total describes the breadth of something either physically or conceptually. For example, your total order describes all the items in your purchase. While if you’re a total success, you are completely successful. A total is the complete amount or sum. The total on your restaurant bill is the entire amount of money you owe for your meal. A total can also be the entirety of something. The total of your book collection would be all the books you own, and the total of your sports equipment is all the equipment you own. Finally, to total is to add up (to total your bill) or to reach an amount, as in The bill totalled up to $56. 75. Example: The total on the bill is higher than I expected because I forgot about sales tax.
Synonym Usage
See whole.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
supertotalnoun
-
retotalverb (used with object)
-
quasi-totaladjective
-
untotaledadjective
-
untotalledadjective
-
quasi-totallyadverb
-
totallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
totalsimple
-
totalssimple
-
have totaledperfect
-
have totalledperfect
-
has totaledperfect
-
has totalledperfect
-
am totalingprogressive
-
am totallingprogressive
-
are totalingprogressive
-
are totallingprogressive
-
is totalingprogressive
-
is totallingprogressive
-
have been totalingperfect progressive
-
have been totallingperfect progressive
-
has been totalingperfect progressive
-
has been totallingperfect progressive
Past
-
totaledsimple
-
totalledsimple
-
had totaledperfect
-
had totalledperfect
-
was totalingprogressive
-
was totallingprogressive
-
were totalingprogressive
-
were totallingprogressive
-
had been totalingperfect progressive
-
had been totallingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of total
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (adjective), from Medieval Latin tōtālis , equivalent to Latin tōt(us) “entire” + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
There are many meanings of total, but they all have something to do with completeness. A total is a whole or complete amount, and "to total" is to add numbers or to destroy something. In math, you total numbers by adding them: the result is the total. If you add 8 and 8, the total is 16. If a car is totaled in an accident, it has been completely destroyed. A total defeat is a complete and utter defeat with no chance of recovering. The total resources of a company are all its resources, everything it has.
Vocabulary lists containing total
Eclipse Vocabulary
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Measurement and Data, List 1
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
A total of 55% are unable to save 10% of their paycheck for retirement due to competing expenses, Schroders said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
Then, 601 total delegates—including 101 from the state party’s governing body—will convene on July 25 to vote on a nominee.
From Slate ● Jul. 16, 2026
Coast Guard and other agencies searched 950 square miles for a total of 54 hours, the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
Inkling has 975 billion total parameters and was designed to balance cost against performance rather than achieve state-of-the-art power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
It was not nearly as much fun as a night at the theater would have been, but educationally speaking, at least the evening would not be a total waste.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
So far this year, companies have sold $344.7 billion of new shares to investors, exceeding the full-year totals for each year from 2022 to 2025.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
The rest of the summer theatrical lineup is also expected to bring in audiences and push domestic box office totals closer to pre-pandemic figures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
An online order, sold in packs of four, totals to $32, or $42 if you want them as soon as possible.
From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2026
But Wall Street likely was seizing on other details in the report, such as a 267% sequential surge in FuelCell’s sales pipeline, which now totals 4 gigawatts.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
“Here’s what to do. Arrange to have Renault appear before The Vigils. Check up on the sale—get the totals, facts and figures.”
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
Related: My wife’s 2011 Ford Fiesta was totaled.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Weekly jobless claims totaled 215,000 versus an expected 218,000.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Firework-related concerns or complaints placed through the 311 Riverside app, where residents can submit service requests or non-emergency neighborhood issues, totaled 431, a jump from 307 in 2024.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
The estimated construction costs at NSA Bahrain totaled about $400 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
When Brother Leon arrived, they totaled the sales together and discovered that fifteen thousand and ten boxes of chocolates had been sold thus far.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
In the capital Havana, power outages totalled more than 30 hours at a time, while in the outlying provinces, it was several days before electricity was restored.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
The deficit during the first six months of this fiscal year totalled $1.2 trillion, which is $139 billion less than the same period last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
When a so-called "risk-adjusted" backlog is totalled up for all NHS buildings in Wales - which focuses on major problems where safety could be at risk - the bill comes to more than £1bn.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2026
The missile business for U.S. prime contractors totalled about $30 billion in 2025, per Lockheed Martin.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
When the end of the list was reached, the amounts totalled, and the money handed over, Thady Shea carelessly crumpled up the list and tossed it behind the counter.
From The Mesa Trail by Bedford-Jones, H.
The Diamond Hill Small Cap Fund’s investor share class has annual expenses totaling 1.29% of assets under management, which makes for $129 in annual fees for a $10,000 investment.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
The government has allocated more than 40 plots of land in La Guaira, totaling about 584,000 square meters, for the construction of new homes, Rodriguez said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
Li Jianping, a former Inner Mongolia official, was executed in 2024 for embezzling and taking bribes totaling more than 3bn yuan.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
June has been a tough month for bitcoin ETFs, posting net outflows totaling $4.3 billion—including eight straight days of net outflows recorded by ETFs, says Konstantinos Crysikos of Kudo.com in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Dead fish of 27 species were observed, totaling about 1000 pounds to a mile of riverbank.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
The joiner said stray balls first started finding their way on to his land two years ago, but recently the number has increased, causing damage totalling thousands of pounds.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
The Commerce Department in Washington on Friday announced injections of public cash totalling over $2.0 billion into private quantum firms.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
However - referring to the confiscation orders totalling £2.9m - the CPS added that it was "only able to obtain assets which are available at the time".
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
In his lawsuit, Musk accuses OpenAI of betraying its original nonprofit mission and misappropriating his founding donations totalling $38 million to build an empire valued at over $850 billion.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
This fateful afternoon it happened that Terry's collections reached a larger amount than usual, totalling up nearly fifty dollars.
From Terry's Trials and Triumphs by Oxley, J. Macdonald (James Macdonald)
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.
