"mostly" meaning in English

See mostly in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

IPA: /ˈməʊstli/ [UK], /ˈmoʊstli/ [US] Audio: en-us-mostly.ogg [US]
Etymology: most + -ly Etymology templates: {{ety-suffix|most|ly}} most + -ly
  1. If something is mostly true, empty, sunny, etc., it is close to 100% so. Synonyms: mainly, largely
    Sense id: simple-mostly-en-adv-3u0ol17E
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Categories (other): Terms suffixed with -ly
{
  "categories": [
    {
      "kind": "other",
      "name": "Terms suffixed with -ly",
      "parents": [],
      "source": "w"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "most",
        "2": "ly"
      },
      "expansion": "most + -ly",
      "name": "ety-suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "most + -ly",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "completely"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The cup was mostly empty."
        },
        {
          "text": "Mostly, it should be sunny today."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If something is mostly true, empty, sunny, etc., it is close to 100% so."
      ],
      "id": "simple-mostly-en-adv-3u0ol17E",
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "mainly"
        },
        {
          "word": "largely"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈməʊstli/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmoʊstli/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-mostly.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "mostly"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Terms suffixed with -ly"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "most",
        "2": "ly"
      },
      "expansion": "most + -ly",
      "name": "ety-suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "most + -ly",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "completely"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The cup was mostly empty."
        },
        {
          "text": "Mostly, it should be sunny today."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If something is mostly true, empty, sunny, etc., it is close to 100% so."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "mainly"
        },
        {
          "word": "largely"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈməʊstli/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmoʊstli/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-mostly.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "mostly"
}

Download raw JSONL data for mostly meaning in English (0.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-15 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (ca09fec and c40eb85). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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