whole

American  

[hohl] / hoʊl /

adjective

1. comprising the full quantity, amount, extent, number, etc., without diminution or exception; entire, full, or total.

   He ate the whole pie. They ran the whole distance.

   Synonyms:

   complete, integral, undiminished

   Antonyms:

   partial

2. containing all the elements properly belonging; complete.

   We have a whole set of antique china.

3. undivided; in one piece.

   to swallow a thing whole.

4. Mathematics. integral, or not fractional.

5. not broken, damaged, or impaired; intact.

   Thankfully, the vase arrived whole.

   Synonyms:

   perfect, unimpaired

6. uninjured or unharmed; sound.

   He was surprised to find himself whole after the crash.

7. pertaining to all aspects of human nature, especially one's physical, intellectual, and spiritual development.

   education for the whole person.

---

noun

wholes plural

1. the whole assemblage of parts or elements belonging to a thing; the entire quantity, account, extent, or number.

   He accepted some of the parts but rejected the whole.

   Synonyms:

   aggregate, totality

   Antonyms:

   part

2. a thing complete in itself, or comprising all its parts or elements.

3. an assemblage of parts associated or viewed together as one thing; a unitary system.

idioms

1. as a whole, all things included or considered; altogether.

   As a whole, the relocation seems to have been beneficial.

2. on / upon the whole,

   1. in view of all the circumstances; after consideration.

      There were upsides and downsides, but on the whole I thought it best to make the trip now rather than later.

   2. disregarding exceptions; in general.

      On the whole, the neighborhood is improving.

3. out of whole cloth, without foundation in fact; fictitious.

   a story made out of whole cloth.

whole British  

/ həʊl /

adjective

1. containing all the component parts necessary to form a total; complete

   a whole apple

2. constituting the full quantity, extent, etc

3. uninjured or undamaged

4. healthy

5. having no fractional or decimal part; integral

   a whole number

6. of, relating to, or designating a relationship established by descent from the same parents; full

   whole brothers

7. informal entirely without a factual basis

---

adverb

1. in an undivided or unbroken piece

   to swallow a plum whole

noun

1. all the parts, elements, etc, of a thing

2. an assemblage of parts viewed together as a unit

3. a thing complete in itself

4. considered altogether; completely

5. 1. taking all things into consideration

   2. in general

whole More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing whole

• as a whole
• go whole hog
• on the whole
• out of whole cloth

---

Synonym Usage

Whole, total mean the entire or complete sum or amount. The whole is all there is; every part, member, aspect; the complete sum, amount, quantity of anything, not divided; the entirety: the whole of one's property, family. Total also means whole, complete amount, or number, but conveys the idea of something added together or added up: The total of their gains amounted to millions.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• wholeness
  noun
• self-whole
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wholes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of whole

First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective and noun hole, hool, Old English adjective hāl; cognate with Dutch heel, German heil, Old Norse heill; see hale ¹, heal; spelling with w reflects dialect form

Explanation

Something that exists in its entirety is whole. If there are eight slices of pizza and you eat half, you've eaten four of them. If you eat the whole pizza, you've somehow managed to eat all eight slices. In terms of mental or physical health, whole describes someone who is healthy or uninjured. It might take you a while after a traumatic experience to feel whole again. Whole siblings are brothers and sisters who share both parents (as opposed to half siblings, who have only one parent in common). All the parts of an object taken collectively make up the whole of that object.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

whole wholes

As a psychiatrist, he was mindful of the whole person who was suffering—not merely a disordered brain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Still, the workout — the whole Body Dada experience, in fact — felt chill and unassuming.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

In addition to restoring Gucci's sense of exclusivity, the strategy aims to boost leather goods across the whole group.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

He added: "I ended up covered in these large watery blisters the whole way up my arm, I'll always remember the pain of it."

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

But over everything lay the shadow: not only the illness, but her whole disgruntled and disappointed life.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Even so, it is the act of assembling disparate icons and references into resonant wholes that affords Saar’s sculptures and tableaux their personal and political import.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

Food, trinkets and paper offerings are also extended to ancestors or deities, including wholes chickens, fruit, tea, sculptures, incense and candles.

From Fox News ● Jan. 27, 2022

Fragments force quick reading, ask for impressionistic understanding, and suggest parts rather than wholes.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021

“But sometimes those halves drift apart, and only when they heal and grow can they become whole for themselves again. Two halves don’t make a whole, two wholes make a whole.”

From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2020

As wholes, or parts, with movement or just motionless figures, with special attention to the color spots or ignoring them, with lots of ideas or just a few stereotyped responses.

From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

Related Words

• full
• perfect