quite

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1. Quite is a highly mobile word with a wide range of uses qualifying adjectives and adverbs (quite heavy / quite often), singular nouns (quite a lot), and verbs (We quite understand / I'd quite like to). It causes difficulty because it has two branches of meaning which are not always distinguishable, especially in print which lacks the support of voice intonation. In idiomatic uses, the sense intended is not always clearly one or the other but varies on a scale between them. The two meanings are (1) the older 'stronger' meaning 'completely, entirely'

(You are a humourist...Quite a humourist—Jane Austen, 1816)

, which remains the dominant sense in American English but tends to be restricted to set expressions in British English (e.g. I quite agree), and (2) the 'weaker' meaning 'rather, fairly' which emerged in the 19th century and is now the dominant meaning in British English (The music was at times quite loud / We quite like what you have done).

2. When quite qualifies adjectives and adverbs, there is a broad distinction in usage in that the weaker meaning normally occurs with so-called 'gradable' adjectives (those that can be qualified by more, very, somewhat, etc.) such as cheap, good, bad, heavy, interesting, large, small (and where appropriate the corresponding adverbs cheaply, well, badly, interestingly, etc.), whereas the stronger meaning occurs with non-gradable or 'absolute' adjectives that denote all-or-nothing concepts such as different, enough, excellent, impossible (and the adverbs differently, enough, excellently, impossibly). So quite good will normally mean 'fairly good' whereas quite different will normally mean 'entirely different'. However, this distinction is not watertight, and examples can readily be found (especially with adverbs) which either leave the choice of meaning unclear or suggest a meaning somewhere between the two extremes (as more idiomatic uses often tend to):

The actual writing style of agony columns has changed quite noticeably over the years—P. Makins, 1975

She has become, both figuratively and quite literally speaking, the absent subject —Art Bulletin, 2001.

3. The use of quite with a verb is much more common in British English than in American English, and can have either the stronger meaning (I quite agree = I agree entirely / We quite understand = we understand completely) or the weaker meaning (They'd quite like to come = they'd rather like to come). The choice of meaning is entirely dependent on the type of verb being used.

4. When preceded by a negative (not, never, etc.), quite has the stronger meaning:

A bona fide kook who is never quite able to get in gear till he finally dies paddling his canoe across the Atlantic—Publishers Weekly, 1973

We should not be quite so narrow-minded, blinkered and xenophobic about the rest of the world—Hansard, 1992

Bailey's production is very hot in the first half but crashes to a halt with a bit of design business that is as ludicrous as it is spectacular. It never quite recovers—Guardian Unlimited, 2004 [Old English (up to 1150)C].

5. The combination quite a (or an) followed by a noun (without an adjective between) is an Americanism that has extended into British English and can refer to quantity or quality (or both):

Occasionally he collects quite a crowd as he sits there cross-legged and expounds his philosophy—Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, 1975

The killings do ensure that we understand Frank's desire for vengeance, but this is overdoing it by quite a margin—Sofia Echo, 2004 [Old English (up to 1150)C].

When an adjective or adverb comes between quite a (or an) and the noun, quite tends more towards the weaker meaning:

The death of Wyatt's father in 1818 left him quite a wealthy man—Dictionary of National Biography, 1993.

But compare the following, in which the order a quite + adjective (or adverb) suggests a stronger, more positive meaning:

The items are programmed in a quite interesting way—Gramophone, 1977.

6. The use of quite as a reply expressing agreement or confirmation is a characteristic of British English:

'No takers,' I said. 'Quite. By the way, I'm sorry to say "quite" all the time but...my work lies amongst Americans and they expect Englishmen to say it.'—K. Bonfiglioli, 1976.

7. It is clearly better to regard quite as operating in the realm of idiom rather than of distinct word sense, and as drawing on a range of meaning that varies subtly between the extremes of the traditionally distinguished 'stronger' and 'weaker' meanings.

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adverb

1. To the fullest extent: absolutely, all, altogether, completely, dead, entirely, flat, fully, just, perfectly, thoroughly, totally, utterly, well², wholly. Informal clean, clear. Idioms: in toto, through and through. See big/small/amount, limited/unlimited.
2. To a considerable extent: considerably, far, much, well². Idioms: by a longshotway, by a wide margin, by far. See big/small/amount.

adv

Definition: completely
Antonyms: incompletely

IN BRIEF: To the greatest extent.

Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music. — Angela Monet

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For a list of words related to quite, see:

• Emphasizers

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See words rhyming with "quite."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Quite.

Dansk (Danish)
adv. - aldeles, helt, ganske, ligefrem, temmelig, en hel (del), ubetinget
int. - ganske rigtigt, vist så

idioms:

• not quite    ikke helt
• quite a    en hel (del)
• quite a few    ganske mange
• quite another    noget helt andet
• quite something    det var ikke så dårligt
• quite the contrary    tværtimod
• quite the thing    det helt rigtige, højeste mode

Nederlands (Dutch)
helemaal, behoorlijk, vrij, inderdaad

Français (French)
adv. - plutôt, tout à fait, entièrement, complètement, totalement, vraiment
int. - d'accord, c'est sûr

idioms:

• not quite    pas tout à fait
• quite a    considérable, beaucoup, quel/quelle (excl)
• quite a few    un assez grand nombre, un bon nombre de
• quite another    tout autre
• quite something    quelque chose, (valoir) le coup d'¯il
• quite the contrary    bien au contraire
• quite the thing    exactement cela

Deutsch (German)
adv. - ganz, völlig, recht
int. - genau, so ist das

idioms:

• not quite    nicht ganz, nicht gerade
• quite a    ein ziemlicher, ein ganz schöner
• quite a few    ziemlich viele, eine ganze Menge
• quite another    ein ganz anderer
• quite something    eine bemerkenswerte Sache
• quite the contrary    ganz und gar nicht
• quite the thing    das Wahre

Ελληνική (Greek)
adv. - απολύτως, εντελώς, τελείως, αρκετά, ως ένα βαθμό, πολύ, πραγματικά, πράγματι
int. - σωστά!

idioms:

• not quite    όχι ακριβώς!, όχι απολύτως!
• quite a    πραγματικός
• quite a few    αρκετούτσικοι
• quite another    εντελώς διαφορετικός
• quite something    άλλο πράμα
• quite the contrary    ακριβώς το αντίθετο
• quite the thing    ό, τι πρέπει, μες στη μόδα

Italiano (Italian)
completamente, abbastanza

idioms:

• not quite    non proprio
• quite a    proprio un
• quite a few    parecchi
• quite another    un altro (paio di maniche)
• quite something    notevole
• quite the thing    il cacio sui maccheroni, la cosa giusta

Português (Portuguese)
adv. - realmente, completamente
int. - bem

idioms:

• not quite    absolutamente
• quite a    um verdadeiro
• quite a few    muitos
• quite another    bem diverso
• quite something    algo realmente bom
• quite the thing    é a moda

Русский (Russian)
совсем, вполне, весьма

idioms:

• not quite    не совсем
• quite a    вполне
• quite a few    довольно много
• quite another    совсем другой
• quite something    нечто особенное
• quite the thing    нечто особенное

Español (Spanish)
adv. - completamente, totalmente, bastante
int. - Realmente!

idioms:

• not quite    no exactamente, no precisamente
• quite a    realmente
• quite a few    bastantes
• quite another    muy distinto
• quite something    realmente notable
• quite the contrary    ¡todo lo contrario!
• quite the thing    muy de moda, lo apropiado

Svenska (Swedish)
adv. - alldeles, fullkomligt, precis, exakt, mycket, ganska, faktiskt
int. - just det! alldeles riktigt!

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
完全, 彻底, 很, 相当, 颇, 的确如此, 正是这样!, 可不是嘛!

idioms:

• not quite    半信半疑, 不完全地, 差不多
• quite a    相当大或多的, 异常的, 出众的
• quite a few    相当多
• quite another    完全是另一回事, 一个完全不同的
• quite something    非比寻常
• quite the contrary    正相反
• quite the thing    很时髦

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adv. - 完全, 徹底, 很, 相當, 頗, 的確如此
int. - 正是這樣!, 可不是嘛!

idioms:

• not quite    半信半疑, 不完全地, 差不多
• quite a    相當大或多的, 異常的, 出眾的
• quite a few    相當多
• quite another    完全是另一回事, 一個完全不同的
• quite something    非比尋常
• quite the contrary    正相反
• quite the thing    很時髦

한국어 (Korean)
adv. - 완전히, 다소, 매우
int. - 그렇치, 그럼요

日本語 (Japanese)
adv. - 全く, 絶対に, 少し足りない, かなり, 随分, 事実上, 確かに…, 実際に

idioms:

• not quite    全く～というわけではない
• quite a    相当な, なかなかの
• quite a few    かなり多数
• quite another    全くもう一つの
• quite something    大した物, まれな, とてもよい
• quite the contrary    全くの正反対
• quite the thing    流行っている事

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(ظرف) تماما, كليه, إلى حد بعيد, فعلا (نداء) بالتأكيد, أجل, نعم‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adv. - ‮למדי, בהחלט, במידה מסוימת, לגמרי, מאוד, די-, פחות או יותר‬
int. - ‮מילה המבטאת הבנה להערה או לאמירה או את הסכמה להן‬

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