English

Alternative forms

• mostlie (obsolete)
• moastly (obsolete)

Adverb

mostly ‎(not comparable)

1. Mainly or chiefly; for the most part; usually, generally, on the whole.

   They're mostly good people, although they have made a few mistakes.‎

   • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 72-3:

     Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.

2. (obsolete) To the greatest extent; most.
   • 1817, Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, :

     She was to be their chosen visitor, she was to be for weeks under the same roof with the person whose society she mostly prized [...]!

Synonyms

• (mainly or chiefly): by and large, in the main, more often than not, largely, predominantly, principally

Translations