Holistic
adj.thoughtful, capableprofessional
What it means
Considering a whole system and the relationships among its parts.
Reach for it when describing integrated assessment when isolated measures would miss important effects
The council took a holistic view of transport, housing, and public health.
Choose between these
6- everyday
an assessment balances several dimensions
not when Rounded is informal and can imply adequacy rather than genuine system understanding.
- warm
care includes someone's physical, emotional, and social circumstances
not when Whole-person applies to people and not to ecosystems or technical systems.
- professional
broad coverage of relevant factors is the chief claim
not when Comprehensive can be a long checklist without examining relationships among factors.
- professional
separate services or components work as one arrangement
not when Integration may connect parts operationally without considering the complete context.
- formal
systemic
patterns produced by the wider system need attention
not when Systemic often focuses on structural causes, while holistic also includes individual parts.
- literary
ecological
interdependence and context shape the analysis
not when Ecological properly concerns organisms or environments unless clearly used as a metaphor.
Said against
3- fragmentary
- piecemeal
- narrow
It naturally appears in
3- holistic approach
A holistic approach linked flood control with habitat and recreation.
- holistic assessment
The holistic assessment considered pain, sleep, work, and family support.
- holistic view
A holistic view revealed that the delay began outside the factory.
Where this comes from
- Wiktionary, English adjective sense: relating to or considering wholes rather than separate parts opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.