by and large
adverb
- adverb (idiomatic, focus) Mostly; generally; all things considered. “It was, by and large, an unexceptional presentation.”
- adverb (idiomatic, obsolete) In one way or another.
- adverb (nautical) Sailing alternately into the wind and in the same direction as the wind.
Synonyms
for the most part generally mostly on the whole usually all in all all things considered altogether broadly as a rule basically chiefly feckly in the large in the main largely mainly overall predominantly pretty well more often than not
Etymology
From sailing: a ship may (or may not) sail well both close by the wind, and large, downwind, with sheets extended.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “by and large”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details