holistic

holistic — adjective

1. relating to the idea that a person or system should be understood and managed as

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

relating to the idea that a person or system should be understood and managed as a complete unit, rather than by examining its separate parts alone

Example

Doctors using a holistic approach treat the patient's lifestyle and emotions, not just the symptoms.

collocation: holistic approach to [medicine/health]

Dewi's yoga teacher takes a holistic view of health, linking body, mind, and spirit.

Common collocations
  • holistic approach
  • holistic view
  • holistic perspective
  • holistic method
  • holistic health
  • holistic medicine
  • holistic education
  • holistic care
  • holistic thinking
Synonyms
  • comprehensive

    broader in scope; suggests thorough coverage rather than the philosophical idea of wholeness

  • integrated

    emphasises how parts work together within a system; more technical and concrete

  • all-encompassing

    less formal; suggests wide coverage without the theoretical dimension of wholes vs parts

  • whole-person

    limited to healthcare and personal development contexts; more specific and concrete

Antonyms
  • reductionist

    the opposite philosophical approach that breaks things into parts to understand them

  • piecemeal

    describes action taken one small part at a time, without coordination

Grammar Patterns

holistic + noun

be + holistic

Usage Note

Often found in contexts related to health, education, and business, where it describes an approach that considers all relevant factors together rather than in isolation.

Common Mistakes

The doctor took a holistic look at my broken arm.
The doctor took a holistic approach to my overall health, considering my diet and stress levels.
'Holistic' describes a whole-system perspective, not simply a thorough look at one thing.
We need a holistic breakfast with eggs and fruit.
We need a wholesome breakfast with eggs and fruit.
'Holistic' refers to whole-system thinking, not to something being healthy or nourishing.

Word family

  • holism
    nounC1
  • holist
    nounC2
  • holistically
    adverbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Holistic, comprehensive, integrated, and all-encompassing all describe approaches that cover many aspects, but they differ in how. Comprehensive emphasises thoroughness and wide content coverage — a comprehensive report covers every topic. Holistic adds a philosophical claim: the parts cannot be fully understood apart from the whole, and the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Integrated stresses that different components work together as a unified system — an integrated software suite connects its tools seamlessly. All-encompassing is more informal and simply means covering everything, without the theoretical depth of holistic or the structural sense of integrated. A holistic health plan considers your emotions and community alongside physical symptoms; a comprehensive plan simply includes every available treatment.

holistic ↗comprehensive ↗integrated ↗all-encompassing

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • truly holistic
  • genuinely holistic

Phrases

  • holistic approach to
  • holistic view of

Etymology

GreekEnglish

Comes from Greek 'holos' meaning 'whole', combined with the suffix '-istic'. The related term 'holism' was coined in the 1920s by South African statesman Jan Smuts in his book 'Holism and Evolution' to describe the idea that wholes are greater than the sum of their parts. The adjective 'holistic' entered English use soon afterwards and gradually spread from philosophy into medicine, education, and business.