quite
adverb
Simple meaning
To a degree.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kwytIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkwaɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adverb
To a degree (not used with a negative)
To the greatest extent or degree; completely, entirely.
To a moderate extent or degree; somewhat, rather.
With verbs, especially past participles.
With attributive adjectives, following an (especially indefinite) article; chiefly as expressing contrast, difference etc.
With predicative adjectives.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: With attributive adjectives, following an (especially indefinite) article; chiefly as expressing contrast, difference etc.
Used this way, quite is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use quite
- “It is quite warm outside, so you might not need a jacket.”adverb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Of an unusually noticeable or exceptional or remarkable kind (not used with a negative).
A large number or amount or extent.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.