wholescale
wholescale Lexical Profile
wholescale Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Done on a very large or comprehensive scale; extensive, thoroughgoing, or affecting everything indiscriminately.
"The new administration announced a wholescale reorganization of the public transit system."
• adverb
On a very large scale; extensively, completely, or indiscriminately.
"Traditional artisanal methods were abandoned wholescale during the rapid shift toward factory automation."
Word Nuance & Usage
"Wholescale" originated as a blend of "wholesale" and "large-scale" (or "full-scale"). While widely used in journalism and general prose to mean "extensive" or "indiscriminate," some conservative style guides prefer "wholesale" or "large-scale" in formal writing.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the 20th century as a portmanteau blending "wholesale" (in its figurative sense of extensive or indiscriminate) with "large-scale" or "full-scale."