Quite
adv, intj, noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A series of passes made with the cape to distract the bull.
- 1 To the greatest extent or degree; completely, entirely.; With verbs, especially past participles. not-comparable
"Thus when they had the witch diſrobed quight, / And all her filthy feature open ſhowne, / They let her goe at will, and wander waies vnknowne."
- 2 To the greatest extent or degree; completely, entirely.; With prepositional phrases and spatial adverbs. not-comparable
"Margaret passed quite through the pines, and reached the opening beyond which was what was once the yard, but was now, except for a strip of flower-border and turf which showed care, simply a tangle of bushes and briars."
- 3 To the greatest extent or degree; completely, entirely.; With predicative adjectives. not-comparable
"El adrea was quite dead. No more will he slink silently upon his unsuspecting prey."
- 4 To the greatest extent or degree; completely, entirely.; With attributive adjectives, following an (especially indefinite) article; chiefly as expressing contrast, difference etc. not-comparable
"When I warned him that his words might be offensive to identical twins, he said that identical twins were a quite different case."
- 5 To the greatest extent or degree; completely, entirely.; Preceding nouns introduced by the indefinite article. Chiefly in negative constructions. not-comparable
"I ventured to hint that he was not quite a fair judge, as [Charles] Churchill had attacked him violently."
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 To the greatest extent or degree; completely, entirely.; With adverbs of manner. not-comparable
"However, the proceedings were quite carefully orchestrated to produce what seemed to be a predetermined outcome."
- 7 In a fully justified sense; truly, perfectly, actually.; Coming before the indefinite article and an attributive adjective. (Now largely merged with moderative senses, below.) not-comparable
""My little plot has been rather successful, after all, hasn't it?" "Quite a perfect success," said Drake."
- 8 In a fully justified sense; truly, perfectly, actually.; With plain adjectives, past participles, and adverbs. not-comparable
"“My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. / Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. / “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”"
- 9 In a fully justified sense; truly, perfectly, actually.; Coming before the definite article and an attributive superlative. not-comparable
"Laploshka was one of the meanest men I have ever met, and quite one of the most entertaining."
- 10 In a fully justified sense; truly, perfectly, actually.; Before a noun preceded by an indefinite article; now often with ironic implications that the noun in question is particularly noteworthy or remarkable. not-comparable
"To debauch the Indians with rum and cheat them of their land was quite a Government affair, and not at all criminal; but to use rum to cheat them of their peltry, was an abomination in the sight of the law."
- 11 In a fully justified sense; truly, perfectly, actually.; Before a noun preceded by the definite article. not-comparable
"It's not quite the colour I am looking for."
- 12 In a fully justified sense; truly, perfectly, actually.; With prepositional or adverbial phrases. archaic, not-comparable
- 13 To a moderate extent or degree; somewhat, rather. not-comparable
"Mind your shoes, the basement is quite wet."
- 1 to the greatest extent; completely wordnet
- 2 to a degree (not used with a negative) wordnet
- 3 of an unusually noticeable or exceptional or remarkable kind (not used with a negative) wordnet
- 4 actually or truly or to an extreme wordnet
- 1 Indicates agreement; exactly so. UK
"“That's a rather ugly colour for a house, don't you think?” — “Quite.”"
Example
More examples"Well, the night is quite long, isn't it?"
Etymology
A development of quit, influence by Anglo-Norman quite. Doublet of coy, quit, quiet, and quietus. For an analogous semantic development from the same root, compare Armenian շատ (šat).
From Spanish quite.