overall
adverb
over·all
| \ ˌō-vər-ˈȯl
\
\
Definition of overall
(Entry 1 of 3)
1
: all over sense 1
the pattern used overall
2
: from one end to the other
600 feet long overall
3a
: in view of all the circumstances or conditions
overall, the sale was a success
b
: as a whole : generally
doesn't do as well overall overall and in most of its detail the film has remarkable power — Time
c
: with everyone or everything taken into account
was third overall in earnings got 31 miles to the gallon overall
overall
noun
over·all
| \ ˈō-vər-ˌȯl
\
\
Definition of overall (Entry 2 of 3)
1a
overalls\ ˈō-vər-ˌȯlz \ plural, archaic
: loose protective trousers worn over regular clothes
\ plural, archaic
: loose protective trousers worn over regular clothes
b
usually overalls
: trousers of strong material usually with a bib and shoulder straps
2
chiefly British
: a loose-fitting protective smock worn over regular clothing
overall
adjective
over·all
| \ ˌō-vər-ˈȯl
, ˈō-vər-ˌȯl\
, ˈō-vər-ˌȯl\
Definition of overall (Entry 3 of 3)
1
: including everything
2
: viewed as a whole : general
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Synonyms & Antonyms for overall
Synonyms: Adverb
all around, all told, altogether, collectedly, collectively, inclusively, together
Synonyms: Adjective
across-the-board, blanket, broad-brush, common, general, generic, global, universal
Antonyms: Adjective
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Examples of overall in a Sentence
Adverb
He made a few mistakes but did well overall. Overall, the project was successful.Adjective
your overall score after two rounds His mistake didn't change my overall impression of him. Your overall health is sound. She likes the overall quality of the product. The scratch didn't affect the car's overall appearance.
Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb
For instance, the mainstream would often talk about getting welfare work done, helping people get Aadhaar cards, or just looking at overall municipal works. — Manavi Kapur, Quartz India, "Getting trolled is a small price to pay to get information out of Kashmir, says activist Shehla Rashid," 22 Aug. 2019 Hahn helped the Oilers (25-7, 8-1 in league) win their third straight league title overall, and advance to the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs before losing 6-2 to Studio City Harvard-Westlake. — Daily Pilot Staff, Daily Pilot, "Huntington Beach’s Josh Hahn is Surf League baseball MVP," 21 Aug. 2019 Hitting that number will require finding a series of interconnected vulnerabilities in a beta version of iOS—pretty unlikely—but Apple upping its payments overall is a welcome sign of better relations with the security community. — Wired, "The End of Cheap Ride-Hail, a Teen Hacker, and More News," 9 Aug. 2019 The team led by adventurer Bear Grylls won overall on behalf of conservation charity Tusk after coming in first in both of the two races. — Victoria Murphy, Town & Country, "Kate Middleton's Boat Is Disqualified in King's Cup Sailing Race," 8 Aug. 2019 Polls have shown that confidence in higher education, overall, is down over the last several years. — Adam Harris, The Atlantic, "Higher Education Has Become a Partisan Issue," 5 July 2019 But teachers overall are about three times as likely as the average US worker to balance multiple jobs, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). — Michelle Cheng, Quartz at Work, "1 in 4 US teachers under the age of 30 has a second job," 3 July 2019 As Town & Country reported, Prince William's team was third overall. — Amy Mackelden, Harper's BAZAAR, "Kate Middleton Was Disqualified from the King's Cup Regatta for a Disappointing Reason," 9 Aug. 2019 The waves’ movement pushes air in and out of the organ pipes to create the notes at random, but overall what is heard is surprisingly pleasing because the pipes have been tuned to harmonies used in local folk music. — Trevor Cox, National Geographic, "15 musical wonders to see—and hear," 31 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Payton brought that ruthlessness to the NFL when he was drafted in 1975, fourth overall, by the Bears. — SI.com, "A History of Football in 100 Objects," 28 Aug. 2019 Fiers is 13-3 overall, a career best in wins and the most by an A’s starter since Sonny Gray’s 14 in 2014. — Susan Slusser, SFChronicle.com, "A’s score just enough to give Mike Fiers his 11th win in a row," 27 Aug. 2019 Djoos was selected by the Capitals in the seventh round, 195th overall, in the 2012 NHL Draft. — Baltimore Sun Staff, baltimoresun.com, "Capitals sign defenseman Djoos to one-year contract," 24 July 2019 The biggest surprise of the draft came when the Oakland Athletics tabbed Oklahoma two-sport athlete Kyler Murray with the No. 9 overall selection. — Richard Morin, azcentral, "Diamondbacks value athleticism, select three hitters on 1st day of MLB draft," 4 June 2018 The Goats, 66-61 overall, 32-30 at Dunkin’ Donuts Park, lost two closers, Ben Bowden and Logan Cozart, and All-Star starting pitcher Rico Garcia to mid-season call-ups. — Dom Amore, courant.com, "Home stretch: Warren Schaeffer’s Yard Goats still grinding as season winds down at Dunkin’ Donuts Park," 23 Aug. 2019 Embracing the challenge Klein Collins went 24-15 overall, 9-7 in District 15-6A in 2018-19, placing fourth via a tiebreaker match over College Park. — Alvaro Montano, Houston Chronicle, "New coach Kasey Price set to take Klein Collins volleyball to new heights," 18 Aug. 2019 At 52-64 overall, Colorado was a season-low 12 games under .500 entering Saturday night’s game. — Kevin Henry, The Denver Post, "Rockies manager Bud Black can still find bright side," 10 Aug. 2019 Castro, meanwhile, raised more than $663,000 overall in the second quarter in Texas, per his campaign, with about 60 percent of that total representing contributions less than $200. — Tom Benning, Dallas News, "Are top Democratic presidential hopefuls cannibalizing O’Rourke and Castro’s Texas fundraising?," 26 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Such a lack of urgency may reflect an overall decline in arrests. — Robert Cherry, National Review, "The Hate-Crime Spike in New York City Has Nothing to Do with White Supremacy," 9 Sep. 2019 The Japanese economic daily Nikkei Shimbun reported late Sunday that Mr. Saikawa had since expressed his intention to resign, citing the questions surrounding his compensation and the company’s overall performance. — Ben Dooley, New York Times, "Nissan Board Set to Meet as It Faces a Leadership Crisis," 8 Sep. 2019 On July 18, Lars Arneson posted the overall FKT in 14:41, shaving three hours off the previous FKT set in 2018 by Adam Jensen and Matt Shryock. — Beth Bragg, Anchorage Daily News, "Hikers turn the summer of 2019 into a fast one, and a busy one, in the Chugach front range," 8 Sep. 2019 Drug and alcohol overdoses in Carroll County continued a year-over-year downward trend in August, with fewer overall overdoses than in August 2018 and fewer overdoses in the first eight months of 2019 compared with the same interval in 2018. — Jon Kelvey, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, "Drug, alcohol overdoses in Carroll County continue downward year-over-year trend, data show," 7 Sep. 2019 The civics exam has 10 questions pulled from an overall list of 100. — Lilly Nguyen, Daily Pilot, "Immigrants work toward getting their stars and stripes in Orange Coast College citizenship class," 7 Sep. 2019 Between the early 1980s and 2016, overall aid fell from more than 5% of Bangladesh’s gross national income (GNI) to just 1.1%. — The Economist, "How BRAC, the world’s biggest charity, made Bangladesh richer," 5 Sep. 2019 The aesthetic is unsurprising considering Trixie's stage name and overall schtick. — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, "Trixie Mattel On Her New Makeup Line, Beauty Blogger Feuds and Her Time Slaying "Drag Race"," 5 Sep. 2019 Many institutions that have failed in recent years to achieve overall employment levels—and leadership levels—that mirror racial and gender representation of the population prefer a discussion of diversity that leaves out precise representation. — Evelyn Iritani, Quartz at Work, "White men and minority groups have different definitions of “sufficient” diversity," 5 Sep. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'overall.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.