large‧ly S3 W2 / lɑdʒli $ lɑr- / 副词

mostly or mainly :

The state of Nevada is largely desert.

It had been a tiring day, largely because of all the tedious waiting.

THESAURUS

in general used when saying that something is usually true in most situations, or about most people or things : In general, temporary jobs are less well-paid. | In general, the bigger a company becomes, the harder it is to maintain customer satisfaction.

generally another way of saying ‘in general’, which is often used before a 动词 . Generally can also be used to say that most people have a particular opinion : Women generally live longer than men. | Newton is generally regarded as the father of modern science.

generally speaking/as a rule other ways of saying ‘in general’ : Generally speaking, large breeds of dog are becoming less popular. | He’s a singer who doesn’t do interviews, as a rule. | The graduates are, generally speaking, a confident and articulate group of young people.

mostly/mainly/largely used when saying that something is true about most people or things, or about most of something. Largely is slightly more formal than mostly or mainly : The disease mainly affects women. | Their attempts were largely unsuccessful. | The students were mostly French and German, but there were a few Japanese students too.

for the most part used when saying that something is true in most cases, but not in every case : These problems have for the most part been resolved. | For the most part, the gangs were made up of boys aged between 11 and 16.

by and large/on the whole used for saying that something is true in most ways or in most cases : The project was, by and large, a success. | On the whole, people were very friendly.