quite

adverb

ˈkwīt

Synonyms of quite next

: wholly, completely

not quite finished

: to an extreme : positively

quite sure

—often used as an intensifier with a

quite a swell guyquite a beauty

: to a considerable extent : rather

quite near

Phrases

quite a bit

: a considerable amount

quite a few

: many

Example Sentences

He felt that the world he had loved had quite gone. —

Edmund Wilson, New York Times Book Review, 20 July 1986

The men who made love to the left-wing college girls were either medical students, who had contempt for them and forgot them, or jocks, who bragged falsely of having made conquests of quite other girls. —

Renata Adler, Pitch Dark, 1983

In my opinion, my work … ain't quite good enough … —

William Faulkner, in Faulkner in the University, (1959) 1977

Irene Franey, a little older than I, was quite a beauty —

John O'Hara, letter, 30 Dec. 1963

“Are you quite finished?” “Not quite.” I am quite capable of doing it myself, thank you. They assured me that I was quite mistaken. We hadn't quite made up our minds. She's quite right, you know. I quite forgot your birthday. No one realized quite what was happening. Quite why he left is unclear. That is not quite what I said. See More

Recent Examples on the Web But despite this object’s unassuming initial appearance, its orbit was immediately eye-catching: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is on track to zip quite close to the sun and Earth alike in the autumn of 2024, setting the stage for what could be a fantastic celestial spectacle. —

Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 26 June 2023 These are like little pills, quite banal at the beginning but which keep the audience interested for the later unfolding of the character. —

Emiliano Granada, Variety, 26 June 2023 But on another level, Baldwin is positioned quite well. —

Craig Gilbert, Journal Sentinel, 26 June 2023 But that is not an option when the lives of adventurers, some of them quite wealthy, are at extreme risk. —

Adam Geller, Fortune, 26 June 2023 The seat itself is quite compact at 42 inches, although the stand spans 63 inches. —

Nor'adila Hepburn, Southern Living, 26 June 2023 These rings, then, feel like not only an assistive tool to help players with different levels of abilities but also a way to ease in folks who want to play Final Fantasy but can’t quite manage the breakneck pace of the game’s combat. —

Ash Parrish, The Verge, 26 June 2023 Not even a full recognition quite yet of what was to come. —

Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2023 Director/executive producer Aditya Thayi uses methods both playful – clips of Frankenstein and Superman, whose late star, Christopher Reeve, became a stem cell research advocate – and serious, sometimes melding these approaches into something ultimately quite human. —

Chris Vognar, Rolling Stone, 23 June 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'quite.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.