Skip to main content

Largely

Largely means ‘almost completely’:

  • The downturn in the economy in the 1970s was largely due to oil prices.
warning

We don’t use largely to mean ‘enormously’, ‘greatly’ or ‘significantly’:

  • Traffic flows in the city centre have been greatly improved by the opening of the new ring road.
  • Not: … have been largely improved

We don’t use largely to mean ‘widely’ or ‘by many people’:

  • This issue has been widely debated in recent years.
  • Not: … has been largely debated