Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adverb To the greatest extent; completely.
- adverb Actually; really.
- adverb To a degree; rather.
from The Century Dictionary.
- An obsolete form of
quit . - Completely; wholly; entirely; totally; fully; perfectly.
- To a considerable extent or degree; noticeably: as, quite warm; quite pretty; quite clever; quite an artist: in this sense now chiefly colloquial and American.
- An obsolete form of
quit . - An obsolete dialectal form of
white .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- verb obsolete See
quit . - adverb Completely; wholly; entirely; totally; perfectly
- adverb To a great extent or degree; very; very much; considerably.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun bullfighting A series of
passes made with the cape to distract thebull . - adverb To the
greatest extent or degree;completely ,entirely . - adverb In a fully justified sense;
truly ,perfectly ,actually . - interjection chiefly UK Indicates agreement; "exactly so".
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb actually or truly or to an extreme
- adverb of an unusually noticeable or exceptional or remarkable kind (not used with a negative)
- adverb to the greatest extent; completely
- adverb to a degree (not used with a negative)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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When he leaves us my heart will quite, _quite_ break -- and I sometimes hope
Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, November 11, 1914 Various
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But you hoped, not quite so soon -- not _quite_ so soon.
The Continental Monthly, Vol 2, No 6, December 1862 Devoted to Literature and National Policy Various
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Once or twice she said that though "Frank was adamant" when she had wished to get closer in touch with his interests and sympathies when he was quite a young man, yet she was always _quite_ in sympathy with her eldest son.
Memoir and Letters of Francis W. Newman Giberne Sieveking
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"But you look quite well -- _quite_ well," she insisted.
The Moon out of Reach Margaret Pedler
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'My dear (mimicked Trix), you can be quite polite to so and so, but I cannot have you becoming friendly with them, you know they are not _quite_.'
Antony Gray,—Gardener Leslie Moore
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He was so clever, so distinguished, he had his eyes and his voice and his whole self so perfectly under control, that she never could be quite, _quite_ sure -- but now!
A Daughter of To-Day Sara Jeannette Duncan
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In this sense, the saying would be quite correct, as it is _quite wrong_ when applied to aesthetic facts.
Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistic Benedetto Croce 1909
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Bashbang_ will certainly quite _quite_ eclipse those two other sensations, _What a Buttons Overheard in the Imperial Pickelhaube
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, February 16, 1916 Various 1898
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Heads, necks and arms don't monopolise the pretty-pretties now, and, what with jewelled tunics, girdles, shoes, stockings and "_Honi soits_," as well as gems on what little corsage and skirt one may be wearing, one's jewel-box may be quite _quite_ emptied every evening.
Punch, or the London Charivari, June 10, 1914 Various 1898
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Yvonne do my hair quite, _quite_ plainly, and I'm giving my jewels to my country.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, September 2nd, 1914 Various 1898
Prolagus commented on the word quite
Is there a difference in the way this word is used among different English-speaking countries? (def. 1 vs def. 2)
September 21, 2008
rolig commented on the word quite
In the negative - "not quite" - always means "not entirely" or "almost entirely" (as opposed to "not at all"). Personally, I think I use "quite" to mean both "to a certain degree (more than a little)" and "utterly", depending on the context:
"The movie was quite good." "She did quite well on her exam." (In both cases, this means better than merely good but not excellent.)
"Now that's quite interesting!" "You're quite wrong about that!" (Here it means "completely".)
But the use of "quite" as a response to mean, "I agree with you" is non-U.S. (i.e. British and Canadian, in my experience):
– "I think we'll have to discuss this later."
– "Yes, quite."
Although I am an American, I haven't lived in the States for about 8 years, watch a lot of British TV, and spent my late 20s and early 30s in Toronto, so I really don't know what my "native" speech is anymore.
September 22, 2008
yarb commented on the word quite
Quite so, rolig.
Quite can mean somewhat, to a certain extent, partially, i.e. not entirely - e.g, a movie which was "quite good" would be 6/10; something which is "quite important" would be the second or third thing you do; if you were not quite ready, you would be ready soon.
Also, quite can mean "entirely". In this sense it's almost never heard in North America (in my experience). For example, "I've had quite enough of your unpleasantness" = "I've had enough!", or "that meal was quite exquisite" = "that meal was as exquisite as could be". This is fairly common in the UK (and presumably other English-speaking countries).
"Quite so" = "exactly so, yes, you're right, I agree 100%".
Quite can also be deprecatory. If something was expected to be good, and you describe it afterwards as "quite good", you're slighting it. E.g. "So - what did you think of Madonna tonight?" "Oh, yes. She was quite good". = She was actually pretty average.
Finally, "quite the something" means "very much that something:
"'Quite' is quite a confusing word" = it's more confusing than most words.
"'Quite' is quite the confusing word" = it's a very confusing word - more so than most!
September 22, 2008
rolig commented on the word quite
Excellent, yarb.
September 22, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word quite
Thank you all, Wordies!
September 22, 2008
wordlover42 commented on the word quite
Quite has always seemed like a very proper, classic "British" word to me.
June 20, 2009
yarb commented on the word quite
See succinct summary on adverbs of degree.
May 5, 2010