How to Use on the whole in a Sentence
on the whole
phrase-
The video assistant referee, on the whole, was judged to have been a success.
—Chris Marshall-Bell, New York Times, 19 July 2026
-
Our executive chef, Chef Garrett, takes the lead on the whole kitchen.
—Martie Bowser, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
-
That gives us the best opportunity to continue to have a resilient business on the whole.
—Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 1 Aug. 2026
-
Some characteristics can, however, be defined as on the whole necessary for any beach and any mood.
—Alex Ledsom, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
-
But on the whole, the best way for the United States to settle the war with Iran is to be clearer about its objectives.
—Erik Lin-Greenberg, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2026
-
But on the whole, rather than a dramatic departure, petal feels fairly constrained and, occasionally, like a tame reimagining of her older work.
—Aimee Cliff, Pitchfork, 31 July 2026
-
For the first time in a while, there might be a case to be made that the Eastern Conference is better than the Western Conference on the whole.
—Tony Jones, New York Times, 2 July 2026
-
There were a few scientific papers that came out of the journey and some useful geological and survey work, but on the whole, the expedition’s accomplishments were minor.
—Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 10 July 2026
-
Some individual defenders have played well, but on the whole, the defense has been abysmal, and it can’t be blamed solely on injuries to players like Lindor and Marcus Semien.
—Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 12 July 2026
-
Yet, on the whole, Alonso seemed in good spirits — although not enough to give reporters any juicy post-game insight into whether the club are going to sign Welbeck or Brentford midfielder Jordan Henderson.
—Simon Johnson, New York Times, 28 July 2026
-
This was offered as a way of talking about the Spanish capital on the whole, but it has been widely interpreted as flirting with 15-time Champions League winners Los Blancos.
—Tom Sanderson, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'on the whole.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Last Updated:
