Word.ws English Dictionary

in the main

in the main prepositional phrase: principally; on the whole; for the most part.

Prepositional phrase

  1. Principally; on the whole; for the most part.
    • […] I entirely agree with you in the main as to the propriety of doing everything one could by way of providing for a child one had in a manner taken into one's own hands; […]1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter I, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 8
    • Mr. Fechter has been in the main more accustomed to speak French than to speak English.1869 August, Charles Dickens, “On Mr. Fechter's Acting”, in The Atlantic Monthly

in the main meaning in Malayalam

in the main in Malayalam

mainly, mostly, for the most part
മുഖ്യമായും, പ്രധാനമായും, സാധാരണയായി, ഏറിയകൂറും, അധികപക്ഷവും, അധികഭാഗവും

Examples of in the main in a sentence

  • A new generation is growing up in our midst, […] and its enthusiasm, even when it is misdirected, is, I believe, in the main sincere.1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “The Dead”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 252:
  • Bill Clinton's philandering was regarded as a moral failing or a joke — but not, in the main, as an illness.2011 February 28, John Cloud, “Sex Addiction: A Disease or a Convenient Excuse?”, in Time, retrieved 13 Aug 2013:
  • Now, I hold no candle for the train operators, and I think that in the main they have been far too craven about any government proposals.2023 November 15, Christian Wolmar, “Ministers should carry the can for ticket office fiasco”, in RAIL, number 996, page 47:

Synonyms of in the main

Forms of in the main

alternative formfor the main

Questions about in the main

What does in the main mean?
In the main means principally; on the whole; for the most part.
What is in the main in Malayalam?
In the main in Malayalam is മുഖ്യമായും, പ്രധാനമായും, സാധാരണയായി. See In the main meaning in Malayalam.
How do you use in the main in a sentence?
A new generation is growing up in our midst, […] and its enthusiasm, even when it is misdirected, is, I believe, in the main sincere.
What part of speech is in the main?
In the main is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in the main in the dictionary

  1. in the line of duty
  2. in the long run
  3. in the long term
  4. in the loop
  5. in the lump
  6. in the main
  7. in the making
  8. in the mean time
  9. in the meantime
  10. in the meanwhile
  11. in the middle of

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in the main (page history and authors); in the main (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “in the main.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/in_the_main. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.