entire family

Meanings

1. 1nounsingular

   all the members of one family, considered together as a single group.

   Grammar: Usually takes a singular verb: the entire family was invited.

   Patterns

   • the entire family + singular verb
   • the entire family of someone
   • for the entire family

   The entire family gathered at my grandmother's house for the holiday.

   She invited the entire family to the wedding, including cousins she rarely sees.

   The entire family was shocked when the news arrived.

2. 2nounsingularfigurative

   all the related things or living things of one kind, taken as a group.

   Grammar: Used with 'of' to name the group: the entire family of languages.

   Patterns

   • the entire family of something

   This one change affected the entire family of related products.

   Scientists studied the entire family of viruses, not just one type.

Common combinations

the entire family

The entire family sat down to dinner together.

the whole/entire family

The whole family pitched in to clean the yard.

support the entire family

His salary supports the entire family.

the entire family of + noun

The entire family of birds shares this nesting habit.

gather the entire family

It is hard to gather the entire family in one place.

Synonyms and how they differ

whole family

Very close in meaning and more common in speech; 'entire' often sounds a little more emphatic or formal.

all the family

Common in British English and slightly less formal; it stresses the individual members rather than the group.

Opposites

Word family

entirely adverb

completely, with nothing excluded

entirety noun

the whole of something, as in 'in its entirety'

Commonly confused: entire family or whole family?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “entire family”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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