Margaret passedquite 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.
2010 October 30, Joanna Briscoe,The Guardian:
Religion and parochial etiquette are probed to reveal unhealthy, and sometimes shockingly violent, internal desiresquite at odds with the surface life of a town in which tolerance is preached.
El adrea wasquite dead. No more will he slink silently upon his unsuspecting prey.
1950, C. S. Lewis,The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:
It was almostquite dark in there and she kept her arms stretched out in front of her so as not to bump her face into the back of the wardrobe.
1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster,The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.:Field Museum of Natural History,→ISBN, page 5:
In Lejeuneaceae vegetative branches normally originate from the basiscopic basal portion of a lateral segment half, as in the Radulaceae, and the associated leaves, therefore, arequite unmodified.
With attributive adjectives, following an (especially indefinite)article; chiefly as expressing contrast, difference etc.[from 16th c.]
And with a prolonged sound, notquite a sniff and notquite a snort, he trod on Euphemia's toe, and went out, leaving a sensation and a faint scent of barley−sugar behind him.
"My little plot has been rather successful, after all, hasn't it?" "Quite a perfect success," said Drake.
2001 February 7, Paul Brown,The Guardian:
While the government claims to lead the world with its plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the figures tellquite a different story.
With plain adjectives, past participles, and adverbs.[from 18th c.]
1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, inZollenstein, New York, N.Y.:D. Appleton & Company,→OCLC:
“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.”
2010 November 5, Dave Hill,The Guardian:
London Underground isquite unique in how many front line staff it has, as anyone who has travelled on the Paris Metro or New York Subway will testify.
Coming before the definite article and an attributive superlative.[from 18th c.]
1910,Saki [pseudonym; Hector Hugh Munro], “The Soul of Laploshka”, inReginald in Russia and Other Sketches, London:Methuen & Co.[…],→OCLC,page66:
Laploshka was one of the meanest men I have ever met, andquite one of the most entertaining.
1923 October 8, “The New Pictures”, inTime:
Scaramouche has already been greeted as the finest French Revolution yet brought to the screen-and even if you are a little weary of seeing a strongly American band of sans-culottes demolish a pasteboard Paris, you should not miss Scaramouche, for it isquite the best thing Rex Ingram has done since The Four Horsemen.
Before a noun preceded by an indefinite article; now often with ironic implications that the noun in question is particularly noteworthy or remarkable.[from 18th c.]
1830, Senate debate, 15 April:
To debauch the Indians with rum and cheat them of their land wasquite 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.
2011, Gilbert Morris,The Crossing:
“Looks like you and Clay hadquite a party,” she said with a glimmer in her dark blue eyes.
Before a noun preceded by the definite article.[from 18th c.]
It isquite the proper thing for a lady to be on intimate, and even on affectionate, terms with her favourite clergyman, and Lizzie certainly had intercourse with no clergyman who was a greater favourite with her than Mr. Emilius.
2006 February 6, Sherman Alexie, “When the story stolen is your own”, inTime:
His memoir features a child named Tommy Nothing Fancy who suffers from and dies of a seizure disorder.Quite the coincidence, don't you think?
(now rare)With prepositional or adverbial phrases.[from 18th c.]
This is anon-descriptive qualifier, similar tofairly andrather andsomewhat. Used where a plain adjective needs to be modified, but cannot be qualified. When spoken, the meaning can vary with the tone of voice and stress.He wasquite big can mean anything from "not exactly small" to "almost huge".
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Manuel Ferreiro (2014–2025) “quite”, inUniverso Cantigas. Edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa (in Galician), A Coruña:University of A Coruña,→ISSN
Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “quite”, inCorpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela:Instituto da Lingua Galega
