DictionaryAI

largely

adverb
LARJ-lee/ˈlɑɹd͡ʒ.li/UKLAHJ-lee/ˈlɑːd͡ʒ.li/

3 meanings of largely

Practice

  1. 1
    mostlyadverb
    To a great extent, though not entirely; mostly or mainly.

    The novel is largely autobiographical, drawing on the author's childhood.

    Critics largely agreed that the film deserved its acclaim.

    UsageUsually goes right before the part it softens: largely due to, largely based on, was largely ignored.

    Similarmainly, mostly, chiefly, primarily, predominantly

    Note

    A hedge as much as a measure: it grants that exceptions exist without stopping to list them. That softening makes it a natural word for careful argument, where largely agreed admits some dissent without dwelling on it.

  2. 2
    generouslyadverbdated
    On a large scale; widely, extensively, or in ample measure.
    Usually there was a jug of one or other decoction standing on the hob, from which he drank largely. "Grand!" he said, smacking his lips after wormwood. "Grand!" And he exhorted the children to try.
    1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, Sons and Lovers
    Note

    Here the word measures quantity, not proportion. In D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers (1913), a man drinks largely from a jug of decoction on the hob, meaning deeply and freely. Context, more than position, tells it apart from the "mainly" meaning: after a verb of giving or taking, as in drank largely or gave largely, it usually means generously.

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • D. H. Lawrence wrote Sons and Lovers. en.wikipedia.org
    • Sons and Lovers was first published in 1913. gutenberg.org
    • The novel describes a man drinking largely from a jug of decoction standing on the hob. gutenberg.org
  3. 3
    adverbrare
    Fully; at great length.
    It ill beseemes a knight of gentle sort, / Such as ye haue him boasted, to beguile / A simple mayd, and worke so haynous tort, / In shame of knighthood, as I largely can report.
    1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
    Note

    A sense, now rare, about how much is told rather than how much there is. In Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590), a speaker says of a knight's wrong "as I largely can report," meaning in full and at length. A modern reader would hear such a line through the "mainly" meaning, which is not what it says. To carry the old idea today, write at length or in full.

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Origin

Formed from "large" combined with the suffix "-ly."

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 1 fact