on the whole

• upon the whole

on the whole

1. (idiomatic) For the most part; apart from some insignificant details.

   The language was wrong for the period, but, on the whole, I enjoyed the film.

   • 1849, Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Monday:

     Davis had a ball lodged in his body, and his right hand shot off; but on the whole, he seems to have been less damaged than his companion.

   • 1910, E. M. Forster, Howards End, ch. 5:

     [H]is class was near enough her own for its manners to vex her. But she found him interesting on the whole.

   • 2012 Jan. 18, Simon Shuster, "The Anti-Putin Movement: An Interview with the Blogger in Chief," Time (retrieved 18 August 2013):

     Both Maidan and Tahrir were peaceful. Maidan was absolutely peaceful, Tahrir saw some unrest but was still peaceful on the whole.

• all things considered, by and large; see also Thesaurus:mostly