Mostly

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈməʊstli/

Alternative forms

• mostlie obsolete
• moastly obsolete

Origin

most + -ly.

Full definition of mostly

Adverb

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.
• 2013-06-29, A punch in the gut, 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, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mDUbXHRIbRIC&dq=northanger+abbey+search+austen&pg=PP1&ots=EDH1Xu36el&sig=J7fVUwXmydAD36S8oLTWv2-ICNk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA163,M1: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