as a rule
• usually, but not always.
• "any architect knows that, as a rule, old buildings are more soundly built than new ones"
Similar:
usually,
generally,
in general,
normally,
ordinarily,
customarily,
almost always,
for the most part,
on the whole,
by and large,
in the main,
mainly,
mostly,
more often than not,
commonly,
typically,
on average,
in most cases,
as a general rule
• in most cases.
