quiteadv.adj.int.

Brit.

/kwʌɪt/, U.S.

/kwaɪt/

Forms:

α. Middle English–1500s quyte, Middle English– quite, late Middle English qwyte, late Middle English twight (transmission error), late Middle English–1500s quyght, 1500s quyghte, 1500s–1600s quight, 1900s– quayt (English regional (Devon)); Scottish pre-1700 quhite, pre-1700 quyite, pre-1700 quyte, pre-1700 qwhite, pre-1700 qwhyte, pre-1700 qwyte, pre-1700 1700s– quite, 1900s– white (Shetland).

β. Middle English–1500s quyt, Middle English–1600s quit; Scottish pre-1700 quhyt, pre-1700 quit, pre-1700 quyt, pre-1700 qwhit, pre-1700 qwyt.

γ. Scottish pre-1700 quitt, pre-1700 quitte, pre-1700 quytt, pre-1700 quytte, pre-1700 qwytte.

δ. 1800s– quiet (English regional (northern and north midlands)).

Origin: Of multiple origins. Apparently partly a borrowing from French. Apparently partly a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymons: French quite ; quit adj.

Etymology: Apparently partly < Anglo-Norman quite without opposition (c1225 or earlier; rare; compare also Middle French quittes totally (c1341 in an apparently isolated use); < quite , adjective (see quit adj.)), and partly < quit adj. (although this is apparently not attested in the most closely corresponding sense until considerably later: see quit adj. 5); in sense probably influenced by Anglo-Norman and Middle French quittement freely, unconditionally, completely (see quitement adv.). Compare quitely adv.The division of material in the forms list parallels that at quit v. and quit adj.: see discussion at those entries.

A. adv.

I. As an intensifier: completely, fully, entirely; to the utmost extent or degree.In negative contexts, having the implication of closeness to the condition indicated.

In earlier use frequently placed after the word or phrase modified (now rare).

1. With verbs, frequently in the past participle, indicating thorough completion of the action.†quite and clean: see clean adv. 6.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adverb] > completely, quite, or absolutely

faira1325

quitec1330

full outa1382

straightly1395

absolutely?a1425

quitementa1450

rightc1450

twighta1500

cleara1522

plain1535

flat1577

sincerely1583

clever1664

cleverly1696

sublimely1722

square1862

quaite1864

fucking A1960

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > utterly

allOE

outlyOE

thwert-outc1175

skerea1225

thoroughc1225

downrightc1275

purec1300

purelyc1300

faira1325

finelyc1330

quitec1330

quitelyc1330

utterlyc1374

outerlya1382

plainlya1382

straighta1387

allutterly1389

starkc1390

oultrelya1393

plata1393

barec1400

outrightc1400

incomparablyc1422

absolutely?a1425

simpliciter?a1425

staringa1425

quitementa1450

properlyc1450

directly1455

merec1475

incomparable1482

preciselyc1503

clean?1515

cleara1522

plain1535

merely1546

stark1553

perfectly1555

right-down1566

simply1574

flat1577

flatly1577

skire1581

plumb1588

dead?1589

rankly1590

stark1593

sheera1600

start1599

handsmooth1600

peremptory1601

sheerly1601

rank1602

utter1619

point-blank1624

proofa1625

peremptorily1626

downrightly1632

right-down1646

solid1651

clever1664

just1668

hollow1671

entirely1673

blank1677

even down1677

cleverly1696

uncomparatively1702

subtly1733

point1762

cussed1779

regularly1789

unqualifiedly1789

irredeemably1790

positively1800

cussedly1802

heart1812

proper1816

slick1818

blankly1822

bang1828

smack1828

pluperfectly1831

unmitigatedly1832

bodaciously1833

unredeemedly1835

out of sight1839

bodacious1845

regular1846

thoroughly1846

ingrainedly1869

muckinga1880

fucking1893

motherless1898

self1907

stone1928

sideways1956

terminally1974

c1330 (?a1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) p. 604 (MED) His riȝt arme wiþ alle þe hond He strok of quite & clene.

a1400 (a1325) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Trin. Cambr.) (1887) App. Y. 823 (MED) Þe teoþe hyde of þis lond..To god & holi chirche he ȝaf quyt.

?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 45 (MED) Lyndeseie he destroied quite [Fr. trestut destruayt] alle bidene.

a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 6852 I wole not stynten, in my lyve, These emperoures for to shryve..But pore folk al quyte I lete.

a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk Instr. Parish Priests (Claud.) (1974) 433 (MED) On ihesu cryst I be-leue also..Þat was conceyuede of þe holy spyryt, And of a mayde I-bore quyt.

c1480 (a1400) St. James Great 288 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 105 In þe entent, þat þai suld have bene quyt schent.

a1529 J. Skelton Phyllyp Sparowe (?1545) sig. C.i Comfort had he none For she was quyte gone.

1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cclxxiij^v All that was there begonne, was quite dasshed.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. v. sig. Gg6 His foule sore..She reduced, but himselfe destroyed quight.

1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 204 For now was the Greeke emperour..quite driuen out of the lesser Asia.

1630 W. Prynne Anti-Arminianisme 133 That I may quite vnuaile the hidden mysteries of this vniuersall grace.

1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 57 We found our selves forced to Intrench, lest they should have routed us quite.

1765 Treat. Domest. Pigeons 50 This article, and the young squabs, will nearly, if not quite, maintain your Pigeons in food.

1789 J. Graham Treat. Bath Waters 39 The gangrenous appearance, hardness and swelling were almost quite gone.

1861 M. Arnold Southern Night in Victoria Regia 178 Thy memory, thy pain, to-night..Possess me quite.

1866 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighb. (1878) xiii. 285 You can't quite believe there is a God at all.

1880 R. Jefferies Round about Great Estate 59 Haws..which often quite cover the hawthorn bushes.

1888 T. Hardy Wessex Tales I. 41 Thus in the space of two or three minutes the room on the ground floor was deserted quite.

a1928 C. Fuller Trigardt's Trek (1932) 75 The Sikoroso speak almost as if they had quite familiarised themselves with the contents of the Dagboek.

1957 A. Ellis Let. 24 Nov. in I. L. Reiss & A. Ellis At Dawn of Sexual Revol. (2002) 85 I quite agree that complete determinism, a la Hume, is an untenable position.

1993 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Nov. 198/1 I quite understand why the girls fell for him.

2001 Times 28 Feb. i. 2/3 The self-praise and gross exaggeration..which we have come to expect from him had quite disappeared.

a. With prepositional phrases and adverbs of space.

ΚΠ

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 2393 Þat land was him vncuth; Quit [a1400 Fairf. al; a1400 Gött. in pes] he wend haue it in wald.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 5994 (MED) Moises preyed þe toþer day þe fliȝes were alle quyt [a1400 Vesp. ware went] away.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 696 Sir Trystram hurtelyd unto that knyght and smote hym quyte frome his horse.

c1480 (a1400) St. Pelagia 124 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 207 It..flaw vpe quyt in þe ayre.

a1500 (a1450) Generides (Trin. Cambr.) 3048 (MED) His wepon..ranne down quyte thorough the harnes.

?1542 H. Brinkelow Complaynt Roderyck Mors xiv. sig. D4^v He bracke it quyte in pecys.

1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Giiii That is..quyte out of remembraunce.

a1600 R. Hooker Remedie Sorrow & Feare (1612) 9 The sword that pearceth their soules quite through.

1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. II. 43 I have done it against the streame of my resolution quite.

c1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 91 Severall nitches for statues quite round it.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xviii. 192 Dryden's and Row's manner..are quite out of fashion.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. ii. 51 I had thrown all their power quite away.

1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. ii. 3 Here have I sat..Quite by myself.

1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirlaugh I. 153 The room was not quite without ornament.

1902 W. S. Maugham Mrs. Craddock vii. 73 Here he was quite at home, no improprieties were there from which he must keep his wife, and animals were the sort of things that any man could understand.

1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart i. v. 87 Quite at a loss to understand their very cruel behaviour.

1996 Observer 31 Mar. (Life Suppl.) 14/1 A hymn to gluttony that..runs quite at odds with our shrink-wrapped attitude to dead flesh.

b. Caribbean (chiefly Trinidad and Tobago). Emphasizing distance away or progress: all the way, as far as.

ΚΠ

1904 Penny Cuts (Trinidad) 23 July He tell de poleeceman to tek me in chaage becos ah com quite inside he proparty.

1904 Penny Cuts (Trinidad) 15 Oct. You could see quite in Tobago if the rain ain't falling.

1939 in G. Rohlehr Calypso & Society in Pre-independence Trinidad (1990) 190 No more four shillings rooms at hand, So quite in San Juan they back they van.

1972 Express (Port of Spain, Trinidad) 8 May 13 Mr Minister while you have left Port-of-Spain and have gone quite to Tunapuna, we here..are the ones forgotten.

2000 I. McDonald in N. Hopkinson Whispers from Cotton Tree Root 250 It only end when Pot O' Rice heself summon the police from quite by Mahaica.

3. With adjectives and nouns.

a. With adjectives in predicative use and attributive without preceding article.Since the emergence of sense A. 10, chiefly with particular kinds of adjective, esp. non-gradable ones, or in (explicit or implied) negative contexts.

ΚΠ

c1480 (a1400) St. Ninian 1336 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 342 Blynd I ame quhyt & fre.

1547 C. Langton Very Brefe Treat. Phisick ii. vi. sig. G.iii^v Many being pourged then, fall sicke of feuers, & be quite destitute of their strength.

1549 J. Ponet tr. B. Ochino Tragoedie Unjuste Usurped Primacie sig. B.ii The chiefe head of thys kyngdome shalbe directly quite contrarye to Christe.

1597 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. i. iii. 7 Threats, That his poore hearers hayre quite vpright sets.

1604 L. Andrewes Copie Serm. Good Friday sig. B2^v Able to quicken our consideration, if it bee not quite dead.

1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 314 One regardless quite Of mortal things.

1751 B. Franklin Let. in Wks. (1887) II. 215 By quite dry air, I mean the dryest we have.

1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ii. v. 175 The mold-board in the common ploughs is..almost quite straight.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxiv. 170 I spent that day quite alone upon the Mer de Glace.

1879 R. K. Douglas Confucianism iv. 95 A man should be quite certain what he knows and what he does not know.

1954 D. Thomson People of Sea vi. 124 Before it was quite dark he saw many seals coming back to the Skerry.

1988 Early Music 16 504 This is made quite clear by the indication ‘violoncelli senza cembalo e contrabassi’.

2001 S. Walton Out of It (2002) p. xvii The increasing requirement, even in quite irrelevant circumstances, to declare to doctors what the level of one's intake is.

b. With another, expressing contrast. Cf. sense A. 3c.

ΚΠ

1571 J. Bridges Serm. Paules Crosse ii. 47 When they go quite an other way, when they seke the causes there, where the causes be not, when wil they finde the cause thereof?

1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie xviii. 126 This a ioyning with substantiues by waie of composition, so altereth their force, as theie signifie in dede, quite another thing.

1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §125 For the Impression of the Sound, it is quite another Thing.

1679 W. Penn Addr. Protestants ii. 146 That's quite another thing than being certain.

1817 J. Bentham Def. Econ. against Mr. Burke 35 Any such accidental display is quite another business.

1845 M. Pattison in Christian Remembrancer Jan. 77 For quite another reason.

1896 J. Conrad Outcast of Islands i. 5 He liked the simple games of skill—billiards; also games not so simple, and calling for quite another kind of skill—poker.

1973 C. Sagan Cosmic Connection (1975) xvii. 125 After all, Mars is quite another place.

c. With attributive adjectives following the article (esp. the indefinite article). Chiefly with adjectives expressing contrast, such as contrary (see also the quite contrary at Phrases 1), different, opposite, etc. a quite other: quite another (rare).

ΚΠ

1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius iii. sig. CC.iiij^v This secret whispering, a quite contrary kinde of Confession.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. K^v Hauing liberty, either to faine a quite newe matter, or to frame the history, to the most tragicall conueniencie.

1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. ii. vi. 162 Livius marcht..into the quite opposite quarter.

1661 H. P. Cressy Reflexions Oathes Supremacy 52 It speaks a quite other language.

1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xiii. sig. Ff5 Upon a quite contrary Account than they intended.

1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. I. viii. 251 Into things of a quite opposite nature.

1846 C. Fox Jrnl. 13 Oct. (1972) 168 Mineral veins, however, a quite different case.

1875 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera V. lx. 348 When the luxuries are produced, it becomes a quite separate question who is to have them.

1955 G. Cansdale Reptiles W. Africa iv. 74 The male Anolis Lizards, belonging to a quite different family living in America.

1973 I. Murdoch Black Prince i. 97 I wanted for once to chatter: not about what had happened of course, but about quite other things.

1977 Gramophone June 31/2 In a quite separate field, that of physics, Percy Wilson's passing will have saddened many friends and associates.

1991 R. Ferguson Henry Miller xii. 239 His conduct of the campaign reveals a quite other side to the bone-idle, talented, sponging drifter portrayed in the book as ‘Henry Miller’.

d. Preceding nouns introduced by the indefinite article, in predicative use. Chiefly in negative contexts.

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c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lxix. 26 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 82 To my kynn a stranger quite, Quite an alian am I grown.

1680 Revenge; or, Match in Newgate iv. 47 Am I not stark mad yet, not quite an Ass?

1733 J. Tull Horse-hoing Husbandry xi. 51 None of them are quite a Foot High.

1777 F. Burney Early Diary July She..is not quite a natural, that is, not an absolute idiot.

1861 ‘G. Eliot’ Silas Marner i. 6 [Raveloe] was nestled in a snug well-wooded hollow, quite an hour's journey on horseback from any turnpike.

1874 E. Coues Birds Northwest 688 The wing from the flexure, differs..almost or quite an inch.

1921 F. S. Mathews Field Bk. Wild Birds & their Music (rev. ed.) 285 An extremely high-pitched, stridulent, rippling trill or reiterated note, nearly but not quite a monotone.

2000 S. King On Writing 178 It is..a bit lazy, not quite a cliché but certainly in the neighborhood.

e. With numerals. Now chiefly in negative contexts.

ΚΠ

1652 N. Culpeper Catastrophe Magnatum vii. 74 The time is coming, it is but two years to it, or but a little more, not quite three.

1685 J. Tutchin Unfortunate Shepherd in Poems Several Occasions 107 Cor. Pray, Father, what's your Age? Damae. Not quite an Hundred. Thyr. Almost.

1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 11. ⁋4 The Story you have given us is not quite two thousand Years Old.

1838 J. Kemper in Wisconsin Mag. Hist. (1925) VIII. 429 It was quite one when we arrived at Lathrop's tavern at Mineral Point.

1927 M. de la Roche Jalna xix. 223 There were quite eight books in the packet.

1946 S. J. Perelman Keep it Crisp 48 Before I was quite five, I devoured in a single afternoon Doughty's Arabia Deserta , the Pandects of Justinian..and the novels of Mrs. Aphra Behn.

1990 P. Auster Music of Chance i. 15 It was not quite four o'clock when they arrived.

†f. Preceding a prepositional phrase containing an adjective expressing contrast. Cf. sense A. 2a. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1657 tr. J. Buccardus Prayse of Peireskius in W. Rand tr. P. Gassendi Mirrour of Nobility 262 Trees, quite of another kind.

1664 S. Pepys Diary III. 91 The comet..is gone quite to a new place in the heavens.

1751 R. Paltock Life Peter Wilkins II. xv. 180 That I did first, was quite of a different Colour from the Leaf.

4. With adverbs of manner (now esp. sentence adverbs).Since the emergence of sense A. 10, chiefly with particular kinds of adverb, esp. non-gradable ones.

ΚΠ

1658 T. St. Serfe tr. M. de Marmet Entertainments of Cours 136 Will you grant me however, that it is also true, that Nature, which acts by constraint, acts quite differently from God, who is Free.

1753 J. Warton tr. Virgil Eclogues & Georgics I. iv. 388 Observe how the poet has varied his expressions..for, liquefacta boum per viscera toto et ruptis effervere costis &c. is quite newly expressed from what it was before in the passage above.

1827 D. Johnson Sketches Indian Field Sports (ed. 2) 72 The great nicety is, to fix the bow, so that the arrow may fly quite horizontally.

1872 J. Ruskin Eagle's Nest §104 Quite seriously, all the vital functions..rise and set with the sun.

1895 T. Hardy Jude ii. iv. 125 She saw the matter quite differently.

1901 F. G. Kenyon Handbk. Textual Crit. N.T. viii. 308 The δ-text..exists quite definitely in the Graeco-Latin group of uncials.

1917 A. Cahan Rise of David Levinsky (1993) xi. vii. 382 The anti-Jewish riots and massacres which the Government inspired and encouraged quite openly.

1949 K. Ferrier Let. 29 Mar. (2003) iii. 64 But I'm told..that I've had the greatest success ever, and quite honestly, I'm past caring.

1955 J. B. Shephard Land of Tikoloshe 76 If I called him ‘kaffir’ he would, quite rightly, think I was being rude.

2003 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 29 May 39/3 He believed, quite wrongly, that this ‘latent axiom’ was the key to proving the conjecture.

II. As an emphasizer: actually, really, truly, positively; definitely; very much, considerably; ‘implying that the case or circumstances are such as fully justify the use of the word or phrase thus qualified’ ( N.E.D. (1902)).In senses A. 5a, A. 5c now merged in or difficult to distinguish from A. 10, except when used with non-gradable adjectives.

a. Preceding the indefinite article and an attributive adjective.

ΚΠ

a1624 R. Crakanthorpe Vigilius Dormitans (1631) xiii. 186 Here was now quite a new face of the Romane Church, yea, it was now made a new Church of it selfe.

1665 E. Stillingfleet Rational Acct. Protestant Relig. i. i. 17 Their expressest sentences seem capable of quite a different meaning to wise and learned men.

1756 W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orphans III. 49 It is quite a pleasing, rural,..plentiful retirement.

1799 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 84 Quite a comfortable dwelling.

1856 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic (ed. 4) I. iii. v. 395 (note) Up to quite a recent period.

a1866 J. Keble Lett. Spiritual Counsel & Guidance (1870) 184 They are quite a large party in Edinburgh.

1884 Manch. Examiner 3 May 6/1 At quite an early hour.

1898 E. N. Westcott David Harum xxiii. 213 I hain't ben runnin' the Eagle tavern fer quite a consid'able while.

1910 Encycl. Brit. V. 548/1 Although the Ingushes speak a Chechen dialect, they have recently been proved to be, anthropologically, quite a distinct race.

1937 Amer. Home Apr. 158/3 It was quite a dreadful little house, and yet I couldn't help loving it.

1962 J. Bernard Let. Apr. in K. Payne Between Ourselves (1983) 22 It turns out everyone still loves you and thinks you quite a wonderful girl.

2000 A. Hastings in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 381/2 Whereas other religious zealots..added to the..obligations of Jewish legal orthodoxy, Jesus is portrayed as pointing in quite a different direction.

b. With too. In later use chiefly colloquial and hyperbolical.

ΚΠ

1659 R. Baxter Five Disputations of Church-government v. 317 Though I do as much as I am well able night and day,..my work and charge is quite too great for me.

1691 J. Harris Mistakes i. 5 Hear me before your rashness makes it quite too late To hear: 'tis Death to think you may be slain for me.

1763 C. Johnstone Reverie (new ed.) I. 137 Your offer is quite too low.

1782 F. Burney Cecilia IV. vii. i. 9 Going to Mr. Harrel's again would have been quite too dismal.

1843 J. Martineau Endeavours Christian Life I. ii. 20 Presenting the Creator to us in a relation quite too mean.

1882 H. C. Merivale Faucit of Balliol III. ii. xii. 47 I quite too awfully near put my foot in it!

1890 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang II. 164/2 Quite too nice (society), expression much used by the aesthetic female portion of society, meaning much the same as ‘awfully jolly’.

1897 A. Beardsley Let. 26 Apr. (1970) 308 It is quite too nice to be here... Yesterday we had a charming lunch party at Lapérouse.

1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era p. v It may be hoped that there are errors on every page, and also that no entry is ‘quite too dull’.

1977 P. Scupham Hinterland 15 Paquerelle, we fall back on the language of the Aesthetics: Your composition is quite too utterly too too.

2003 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 10 Dec. b9/1 The issue has become quite too political.

c. With adjectives, past participles, and adverbs.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > [adverb]

mid or with (‥) soothc888

soothfastlya890

soothfastc950

rightOE

yeaOE

soothlyOE

soothOE

trulyc1225

soothrightc1275

purec1300

verament1303

verily1303

purelyc1325

verimentc1325

indeedc1330

veirec1330

soothfully1340

faithlyc1350

of very (due) right?a1366

leallya1375

amenc1384

in soothnessc1386

verya1387

in certaina1400

truea1400

without(en) wougha1400

in veirec1400

in deedc1405

without famec1430

in veramentc1450

utterlyc1460

veritably1481

veritable1490

voirably1501

seriously1644

quite1736

quite1881

the world > relative properties > quantity > moderateness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb]

meetlyOE

better?c1225

measurelyc1350

renablyc1350

measurablya1382

skilfullya1387

meanlya1398

moderatelya1398

temperately1398

reasonablyc1400

faira1413

mean1535

competently1541

meanably1577

tarblish1842

mediumly1852

quite1854

1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. ii. i. 142 To say, Revelation is a thing superfluous,..is, I think, to talk quite wildly.

1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxiii. 311 They tell me, she's..quite smart and handsome.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones V. xiii. v. 40 The Widow, quite charm'd with her new Lodger, invited him..to Breakfast.

1805 E. Clark Banks of Douro I. 248 She felt..so perturbed..that she was quite ill and restless.

1834 W. Beckford Italy; with Sketches Spain & Portugal I. 326 The gallery immediately before its entrance appeared quite gay.

1848 J. F. W. Herschel Ess. (1857) 342 A ship sailing northwards passes quite suddenly from cold into hot water.

1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 226 Perhaps I have owed to this employment and to hunting, when quite young, my closest acquaintance with Nature.

1871 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera I. iii. 17 You would observe..the quite Anglican character of Richard.

1907 H. James Amer. Scene xiv. 430 But most of all, I think, I recall the quite lively resolve not to give way..to the provocation of their suggestiveness.

1966 N. Coward Diary 27 Apr. (2000) 630 The ovation at the final curtain was quite, quite wonderful.

2001 Nat. New England May–June 53/1 Traffic jams of broken pieces of ice can form quite suddenly as soon as ice cover begins to break up.

d. With superlatives used attributively, preceding the definite article.

ΚΠ

1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews II. iv. x. 251 A Character she had ever maintained among her Intimates, being of that number, every Individual of which is called quite the best sort of Woman in the World.

1845 E. Acton Mod. Cookery xx. 548 This is quite the best sweet preparation of rice that we have ever eaten.

1863 F. Locker London Lyrics (1870) 106 And all that sort of thing, of which Dear Hawthorne's ‘quite’ the best describer.

1883 Harper's Mag. Nov. 882/1 The auditorium is quite the largest in the world.

1911 G. B. Shaw Getting Married in Doctor's Dilemma 218 Don't you think her letters are quite the best love-letters I get?

1934 W. B. Yeats Words upon Window-pane 36 Exactly: quite the best kind of mediumship if you want to establish the identity of a spirit.

1981 Country Life 12 Feb. 409/1 The high degree of accuracy..quite the highest, surely, that can be attained.

1992 Gramophone Jan. 64/1 Quite the blackest snarl from the trombones at the end..that I have heard.

6. Preceding a noun introduced by a determiner.In later usage, often used to indicate (frequently ironically) that the person or thing in question is regarded as particularly remarkable or impressive.

a. With indefinite article. Formerly also occasionally without article and with noun in plural.quite a few: see few adj., pron., and n. Phrases 1c. quite a number: see number n. 9a.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > [adverb] > with emphatic or ironic commendation

quite1806

1738 A. Pope Satires of Horace ii. vi. 146 Something..quite a scandal not to learn.

1762 R. Lloyd Poet. Wks. (1774) I. 183 It's quite a journey to come here.

1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. xii. 318 That must have been quite a scene!

1816 J. Austen Emma III. vi. 86 You are an odd creature!.. You are a humourist... Quite a humourist.

1840 W. M. Thackeray Catherine i There's many a girl in the village that at my age is quite chits.

1859 C. M. Tuttle Diary 30 May in Wisconsin Mag. Hist. (1931) XV. 78 Council Bluffs is quite a place containing about 3 thousand inhabitants.

1896 T. F. Tout Edward I (ed. 2) iv. 79 A daughter..who died when quite a child.

1908 M. Moore Let. 26 Jan. in Sel. Lett. (1997) 34 Your letter gave me quite a brace.

1917 Dial. Notes 4 398 An extension of the adverbial use as in ‘He is quite a lad’.

1938 E. Hemingway Fifth Column i. iii. 28 Comrade's quite a word. I suppose I oughtn't to chuck it around.

1950 ‘D. Divine’ King of Fassarai xx. 166 We had us a party last night—quite a party.

1989 A. Aird 1990 Good Pub Guide 826 The big side conservatory..is quite an oasis for families.

1996 N. Maraire Zenzele ii. 11 The gardener..had quite a job, for the garden was magnificent and vast.

b. With definite article.quite the thing: see thing n.¹ 7a.

ΚΠ

1752 G. A. Stevens Distress upon Distress i. ii. 37 Tho' Swearing is at present in tip top Taste, and quite the Thing, I don't believe the Generality of Gentlemen Cursers take a sufficient Time to recollect what they are going to do when they swear.

1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. 55 It [silk] is at once rich, tastey, and quite the thing.

1787 G. Colman Inkle & Yarico iii. i. 56 I march'd the lobby, twirl'd my stick..The girls all cry'd, ‘He's quite the kick!’

1799 S. T. Coleridge Lett. (1895) 277 Pipes are quite the rage.

1803 in Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1804) 7 20 Quite the tippy for the boxes.

1865 Sat. Rev. July 14 The Chancellor is not quite the right man for his..place.

1881 H. James Portrait of Lady II. xvii. 207 The proportions of the windows, and even the details of the cornice, had quite the grand air.

1903 H. James Ambassadors i. i. 9 He had quite the sense that she knew things he didn't.

1911 W. A. Raleigh Let. 15 Dec. (1926) II. 374 I've been lecturing at Glasgow... Now that I'm not there I'm quite the craze.

1957 J. Braine Room at Top (1960) 141 Ah. Quite the sybarite, aren't you?

1978 H. Wouk War & Remembrance viii. 86 She's turned into quite the spiffy New York gal.

1995 K. Atkinson Behind Scenes at Museum (1996) ii. 93 Bunty..was quite the thing nowadays in heels and stockings and even lipstick.

c. Originally U.S. With some. Cf. quite something at Phrases 4.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > [adverb]

mid or with (‥) soothc888

soothfastlya890

soothfastc950

rightOE

yeaOE

soothlyOE

soothOE

trulyc1225

soothrightc1275

purec1300

verament1303

verily1303

purelyc1325

verimentc1325

indeedc1330

veirec1330

soothfully1340

faithlyc1350

of very (due) right?a1366

leallya1375

amenc1384

in soothnessc1386

verya1387

in certaina1400

truea1400

without(en) wougha1400

in veirec1400

in deedc1405

without famec1430

in veramentc1450

utterlyc1460

veritably1481

veritable1490

voirably1501

seriously1644

quite1736

quite1881

1881 Hopewell (New Jersey) Herald 20 Apr. After quite some bluster two of them, named Compton and Grymes, undertook to settle it with a mill.

1895 Argosy Nov. 107/1 They have a burlesque every spring, and it's quite some fun.

1896 Dial. Notes 1 422 You'll have quite some potatoes on the patch.

1931 Amer. Speech Oct. 20 It was quite some excitement we had for a while.

1966 F. Nwapa Efuru xi. 212 They made quite some money out of this.

1977 Lancs. Life Nov. 58/2 A wooden toy..for £125. It was, as you will have gathered, quite some toy.

2005 V. Young Programming Multiplayer FPS in DirectX ii. 47 We could continue discussing templates for quite some time.

7. With prepositional or adverbial phrases. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1748 Lady Anson in A. Buck Dress in 18th Cent. Eng. (1979) ii. 34 The Poupé..did not arrive time enough for me to..adjust my coiffure quite in the taste it might to have been in.

1782 F. Burney Cecilia II. iv. vi. 202 We began with Cotillons, and finished with country dances. It was the most elegant thing you ever saw in your life; everything quite in a style.

1846 W. S. Landor Wks. II. 16 There are minerals and instruments quite at hand.

1899 Daily News 1 Dec. 8/2 The account of the making of the first axe..is told quite in the heroic style of Kingsley and Morris.

1941 A. C. Bouquet Compar. Relig. iv. 36 But this ‘high god’ is quite in the background, and is so much of a roi fainéant that nobody addresses any worship to him.

8. With verbs. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1770 E. Carter Let. 8 June (1817) II. 67 I quite longed for you to share my admiration of it.

1819 Metropolis (ed. 2) I. 213 Lady Mildew..quite haunts us.

1819 Metropolis (ed. 2) I. 249 A certain upstart commoner..quite made love to me.

1848 J. H. Newman Loss & Gain 192 A great personage..quite scoffed at their persisting to hold it.

1879 M. L. Molesworth Tapestry Room i. 9 She must have grown drowsy with the quiet and the heat of the fire, for she quite started when the door again opened.

1897 B. Stoker Dracula v. 61 This quite upset me.

1911 F. H. Burnett Secret Garden xi. 106 She quite panted with eagerness.

1929 M. Lowry Let. in Sursum Corda! (1995) I. 60 It seems quite fated that I should write this letter just like this on this warm bright day while outside a man shouts Rag-a-bone, Rag-a-bone.

III. As a moderating adverb: to a certain or significant extent or degree; moderately, somewhat, rather; relatively, reasonably.This sense is often difficult to distinguish from sense A. II., out of which it developed; the shift in meaning being from ‘certainly having the specified character in (at least) some degree’ to ‘having the specified character in some degree (though not completely)’.

9. Preceding the indefinite article. Cf. sense A. 5a.

ΚΠ

1805 ‘C. Caustic’ Democracy Unveiled vi. 203 Had Lawyer L——n staid at home, His honour might have pass'd, with some, For quite a decent country Squire.

1845 S. Smith May-day in N.Y. ii. 48 I thought I shouldn't like 'em very well at first; but on the whole I think it's quite a nice place.

1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 104 She is likewise quite a new piece, not having exposed her goods to market above three months.

1884 Times 13 Mar. 10/1 The trim white houses..give it quite a pretty appearance as one enters from the sea.

1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out iii. 51 The woman has quite a fine face, only she dresses..in a potato sack, and wears her hair like a Liberty shopgirl's.

1985 Washington Post (Nexis) 4 Feb. a11 You may be quite a decent computer programmer, but few prospective employers will believe it if you speak poorly.

2003 Daily Tel. 14 Oct. 20/2 Five middle-class people and two elderly labradors. In a garage. I mean, quite a roomy garage—but really.

10. Modifying adjectives, adverbs, or verbs.rare in North American usage.With many adjectives and adverbs (esp. gradable ones), quite is ambiguous between this sense and sense A. I.; in the latter sense it now tends to collocate with particular kinds of adjective and adverb (esp. non-gradable ones).

a. Modifying adjectives.

ΚΠ

1845 C. Darwin Jrnl. (ed. 2) ii. 37 I once,..saw..a large female wasp caught in the irregular web of a quite small spider.

1874 Thistleton's Illustr. Jolly Giant III. 12 Sept. 129/1 In other words, he was quite drunk when he entered, but still more drunk at the time alluded to.

1889 J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat ix. 144 If so, who was the real one that was dreaming, and who was the one that was only a dream: it got quite interesting.

1931 E. O'Neill Homecoming i, in Mourning becomes Electra (1932) 16 Borne on the light puffs of wind this music is at times quite loud.

1958 ‘A. Bridge’ Portuguese Escape xvi. 265 You shall..when you have answered one quite small question: where is now Dr. Antal Horvath?

1976 C. Sarfas Space & Space Trav. 19 But the astronauts were wearing their heavy spacesuits and equipment, so even on the moon it was quite hard to move.

1980 J. McClure Blood of Englishman xvi. 144 I only said a ‘quite’ brilliant idea, sir—not a ‘very’.

1997 Select June 133/2 If you're drunk or high on goofballs, night-time TV is quite pleasant, but it can be a bit depressing.

b. Modifying adverbs.

ΚΠ

1886 Science 30 Apr. 403/1 The lithographer has done his work quite, though hardly very, well.

1919 G. B. Shaw Heartbreak House ii, in Heartbreak House, Great Catherine, & Playlets of War 54 Theyve been proud of my poverty. Theyve even joked about it quite often.

1952 N. Coward Diary 5 Apr. (2000) 190 I did a self-portrait staring in the mirror... There is a faint likeness and it is quite well drawn.

1987 R. Berthoud Life Henry Moore viii. 150 The Moores quite frequently visited the Pipers' farmhouse at Fawley Bottom.

2005 Allergy Apr. 29/1 Products made from pine resin are also quite widely found.

c. Modifying verbs (chiefly enjoy, fancy, like).

ΚΠ

1942 N. Balchin Darkness falls from Air ii. 35 While of course he didn't ask me out to dinner because of my beaux yeux, he did really quite like me.

1952 A. Wilson Hemlock & After iii. 58 I quite like queers if it comes to that, so long as they're not on the make like Evelyn's boys.

1985 W. Sheed Frank & Maisie ii. 27 Although he personally thinks that wine tastes like iron filings, he quite enjoys watching other people drink the stuff.

1992 More 28 Oct. 48/2 I quite fancy the idea of having a househusband.

B. adj.

colloquial. Short for ‘quite a gentleman (lady, etc.)’; socially acceptable. Usually in negative contexts. Also modified by quite. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > [adjective] > having good social position

goodOE

conditioned1632

visitable1765

swell1810

well-placed1814

silver-tail1898

quite1907

the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > good repute > reputability or honourableness > [adjective] > respectable

substantious1490

proper1600

creditable1624

decent1712

respectable1750

gradely1763

pukka1776

nice1799

salonfähig1905

quite1907

resp1922

1831 M. Edgeworth Let. 11 Apr. (1971) 517 Mrs. Fitton..is very quite and pleasing.

1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. xlii. 371 Still he wasn't quite,—not quite, you know—‘not quite so much of a gentleman as I am,’—Mr Walker would have said, had he spoken out freely that which he insinuated. But he contented himself with the emphasis he put upon the ‘not quite’, which expressed his meaning fully.

1878 A. Trollope Is he Popenjoy? I. xiv. 195 ‘I have always liked the Dean personally,’ said Lady Sarah... ‘But he isn't—he isn't quite—’ ‘No; he isn't quite—,’ said Lord George, also hesitating to pronouce the word which was understood by both of them.

1907 M. E. Braddon Dead Love has Chains vi. 124 Oh, she is quite quite, don't you know... Her father is Sir Michael Thelliston.

1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out xi. 159 Mr. Perrott..knew that he was not ‘quite’, as Susan stated..; not quite a gentleman she meant.

1926 Whispering Gallery viii. 114 He's not ‘quite quite’, you know, but he's so clever.

1930 C. Williams Poetry at Present 165 That awful moment when..one feels that one is ‘not quite’.

1945 A. Huxley Time must have Stop (new ed.) xxi. 200 ‘You'll find him a bit..well, you know, not quite...’ The deprecating gesture sufficiently indicated what he quite wasn't.

1956 J. Masters Bugles & Tiger xv. 182 This was supposed to be not quite quite, and British officers took no part in it.

1960 M. Cecil Something in Common 7 ‘She's a Lady’ (acceptable), or ‘He's not Quite’ (rejected).

1992 N.Y. Times 8 Apr. a25/5 Over and over you hear about folks who are uncomfortable with him, who think he's too slick or too polished or just not quite quite.

C. int.

colloquial (chiefly British). As an emphatic affirmation: ‘just so’; ‘absolutely’. Cf. quite so at Phrases 3.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > assent > [adverb] > expression of assent

yesOE

yeaOE

soa1400

toa1525

very well1529

yus1775

yerse1862

yeah1863

yeh1868

orright1874

yep1883

yup1887

ayuh1894

yairs1896

yayus1900

yip1906

too right1919

quite1924

1924 J. Galsworthy White Monkey ii. ii. 131 ‘I don't hold with it, myself.’ ‘No, quite!’

1931 P. G. Wodehouse If I were You xxii. 243 ‘Our likes and dislikes are not the point,’ she said. ‘The thing's impossible.’ ‘Quite,’ agreed Sir Herbert.

1962 D. Lessing Golden Notebk. i. 131 ‘I've been supporting policies that should put an end to the whole bloody business.’ ‘Quite. And quite right.’

1976 K. Bonfiglioli Something Nasty in Woodshed x. 123 ‘No takers,’ I said. ‘Quite. By the way, I'm sorry to say “quite” all the time but..my work lies amongst Americans and they expect Englishmen to say it.’

1986 Times Lit. Suppl. 29 Aug. 927/3 ‘His influence encountered no resistance.’ Quite. But what if it should happen that..his influence did encounter resistance?

Phrases

P1. †the quite contrary: something that is completely contrary (obsolete).Frequently in 16th–17th centuries.

ΚΠ

1572 J. Whitgift Answere to Admon. 158 Farre from making the man of God perfecte to all good workes, that rather the quite contrary may be confirmed.

1682 J. Bunyan Holy War 150 If he heard his neighbour tell his tale, to be sure he would tell the quite contrary .

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 493. ⁋1 In proportion to his deserving the quite contrary.

P2. quite the reverse (in predicative use): the very opposite.

ΚΠ

1716 M. Davies Athenæ Britannicæ II. 401 Which was quite the reverse in those two..Prelates.

1842 F. Marryat Percival Keene I. ii. 23 With the other sex she was full of merriment and fond of joking, consequently a great favourite; towards her own sex her conduct was quite the reverse.

1992 Guardian 2 Jan. 18/6 The rise of racism and fascism in Europe is hardly helping matters. Quite the reverse.

P3. colloquial (chiefly British). quite so (as an emphatic affirmation): ‘just so’; ‘absolutely’.

ΚΠ

1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son i. 4 ‘Quite so,’ assented the Doctor.

1892 A. Conan Doyle Adventures Sherlock Holmes x. 246 ‘This maid Alice, as I understand, deposes that she..put on a bonnet, and went out.’ ‘Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde-park.’

1938 A. Berkeley Not to be Taken iv. 87 Quite so, my dear chap. Then if you'll be good enough to make yourself scarce, I'll examine my patient.

1969 A. O'Toole Racing Game 49 ‘It'll be round about ten dollars.’.. ‘Won't harm anybody,’ I agreed. ‘Quite so,’ Joe said.

1997 W. Self Great Apes (1998) vii. 117 Quite so, quite so. Well, I'll wait to see from you then.

P4. colloquial (originally U.S.) quite something: an impressive or remarkable person or thing.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [noun] > a special thing > an) extraordinary thing(s)

singularity1576

extraordinary1589

remarkable1639

extraordinary1650

something else1844

cough drop1851

quite something1909

1909 Washington Post 3 Jan. (Misc. section) 1/3 It cost the state quite something to pay for the blank ammunition that was fired off at our own men.

1956 O. Keepnews Jelly Roll Morton in View Within (1988) ii. 63 The thirty-eight-block Tenderloin District adjoining Canal Street was obviously quite something.

1968 Guardian 10 Oct. 7/2 She found out that I was sleeping with someone else and she had to accept the situation which was quite something because it wasn't even a woman.

1971 ‘L. Black’ Death has Green Fingers iii. 25 Your village seems to be quite something with the lid off.

1995 K. Atkinson Behind Scenes at Museum (1996) iii. 105 Their cousin Edmund was quite something—a handsome, brave bomb-aimer stationed at Croft and delighted to meet his English cousins.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	quite
释义	quiten. Brit. /ˈkiːteɪ/, U.S. /ˈkiˌteɪ/ Origin: A borrowing from Spanish. Etymon: Spanish quite. Etymology: < Spanish quite move to distract the bull in bullfighting (1876), spec. use of quite action of removing, preventing (c1444), action of parrying (1798) < quitar (see quit v.). Bullfighting. A series of passes made with the cape in order to distract the bull from a vulnerable picador, horse, etc. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting or baiting animals > bullfighting or bullfight > [noun] > actions of bullfighter pass1835 recibir1838 suerte1838 volapié1838 larga1902 recibiendo1902 recorte1909 estocada1910 quite1924 natural1925 piccing1925 cape-work1926 pic1926 Veronica1926 veronique1931 banderilling1932 farol1932 mariposa1932 media vuelta1932 molinete1932 lidia1952 manoletina1952 revolera1952 orteguina1957 rejoneo1961 1924 E. Hemingway Let. 14 July (2013) II. 132 Grand exito for the cuadrilla..with 4 cogidas for 4 lances of the cape various brilliant quites and much throwing sand in the eyes [of the bull]. 1925 Times 27 Feb. 15/4 Judas could not make a quite. Judas could not be a torero. 1932 E. Hemingway Death in Afternoon xvii. 184 The spectator..will be liable to..watch the horse and miss the quite that the matador has made. 1957 A. MacNab Bulls of Iberia v. 52 As the picador falls on the sand, the first matador rushes in with his cape, to distract the bull... This rescue job is called making a quite. 1967 J. McCormick & M. S. Mascareñas Compl. Aficionado ii. 36 We are told that the glory of the early corrida was the emphasis upon cape work in the quites necessitated by the large number of pics to the toro. 1975 Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 140/1 The measures take the form of keeping the bull under control at all times..making certain that the animal is not excessively enfeebled during the suerte de varas due to tardy quites. 1994 R. Evans in Philadelphia Inquirer 8 Sept. e1 Doing my various quites and veronicas, swirling my muleta, all of course to a fake bull. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022). quiteadv.adj.int. Brit. /kwʌɪt/, U.S. /kwaɪt/ Forms: α. Middle English–1500s quyte, Middle English– quite, late Middle English qwyte, late Middle English twight (transmission error), late Middle English–1500s quyght, 1500s quyghte, 1500s–1600s quight, 1900s– quayt (English regional (Devon)); Scottish pre-1700 quhite, pre-1700 quyite, pre-1700 quyte, pre-1700 qwhite, pre-1700 qwhyte, pre-1700 qwyte, pre-1700 1700s– quite, 1900s– white (Shetland). β. Middle English–1500s quyt, Middle English–1600s quit; Scottish pre-1700 quhyt, pre-1700 quit, pre-1700 quyt, pre-1700 qwhit, pre-1700 qwyt. γ. Scottish pre-1700 quitt, pre-1700 quitte, pre-1700 quytt, pre-1700 quytte, pre-1700 qwytte. δ. 1800s– quiet (English regional (northern and north midlands)). Origin: Of multiple origins. Apparently partly a borrowing from French. Apparently partly a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymons: French quite ; quit adj. Etymology: Apparently partly < Anglo-Norman quite without opposition (c1225 or earlier; rare; compare also Middle French quittes totally (c1341 in an apparently isolated use); < quite , adjective (see quit adj.)), and partly < quit adj. (although this is apparently not attested in the most closely corresponding sense until considerably later: see quit adj. 5); in sense probably influenced by Anglo-Norman and Middle French quittement freely, unconditionally, completely (see quitement adv.). Compare quitely adv.The division of material in the forms list parallels that at quit v. and quit adj.: see discussion at those entries. A. adv. I. As an intensifier: completely, fully, entirely; to the utmost extent or degree.In negative contexts, having the implication of closeness to the condition indicated. In earlier use frequently placed after the word or phrase modified (now rare). 1. With verbs, frequently in the past participle, indicating thorough completion of the action.†quite and clean: see clean adv. 6. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adverb] > completely, quite, or absolutely faira1325 quitec1330 full outa1382 straightly1395 absolutely?a1425 quitementa1450 rightc1450 twighta1500 cleara1522 plain1535 flat1577 sincerely1583 clever1664 cleverly1696 sublimely1722 square1862 quaite1864 fucking A1960 the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > utterly allOE allOE outlyOE thwert-outc1175 skerea1225 thoroughc1225 downrightc1275 purec1300 purelyc1300 faira1325 finelyc1330 quitec1330 quitelyc1330 utterlyc1374 outerlya1382 plainlya1382 straighta1387 allutterly1389 starkc1390 oultrelya1393 plata1393 barec1400 outrightc1400 incomparablyc1422 absolutely?a1425 simpliciter?a1425 staringa1425 quitementa1450 properlyc1450 directly1455 merec1475 incomparable1482 preciselyc1503 clean?1515 cleara1522 plain1535 merely1546 stark1553 perfectly1555 right-down1566 simply1574 flat1577 flatly1577 skire1581 plumb1588 dead?1589 rankly1590 stark1593 sheera1600 start1599 handsmooth1600 peremptory1601 sheerly1601 rank1602 utter1619 point-blank1624 proofa1625 peremptorily1626 downrightly1632 right-down1646 solid1651 clever1664 just1668 hollow1671 entirely1673 blank1677 even down1677 cleverly1696 uncomparatively1702 subtly1733 point1762 cussed1779 regularly1789 unqualifiedly1789 irredeemably1790 positively1800 cussedly1802 heart1812 proper1816 slick1818 blankly1822 bang1828 smack1828 pluperfectly1831 unmitigatedly1832 bodaciously1833 unredeemedly1835 out of sight1839 bodacious1845 regular1846 thoroughly1846 ingrainedly1869 muckinga1880 fucking1893 motherless1898 self1907 stone1928 sideways1956 terminally1974 c1330 (?a1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) p. 604 (MED) His riȝt arme wiþ alle þe hond He strok of quite & clene. a1400 (a1325) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Trin. Cambr.) (1887) App. Y. 823 (MED) Þe teoþe hyde of þis lond..To god & holi chirche he ȝaf quyt. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 45 (MED) Lyndeseie he destroied quite [Fr. trestut destruayt] alle bidene. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 6852 I wole not stynten, in my lyve, These emperoures for to shryve..But pore folk al quyte I lete. a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk Instr. Parish Priests (Claud.) (1974) 433 (MED) On ihesu cryst I be-leue also..Þat was conceyuede of þe holy spyryt, And of a mayde I-bore quyt. c1480 (a1400) St. James Great 288 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 105 In þe entent, þat þai suld have bene quyt schent. a1529 J. Skelton Phyllyp Sparowe (?1545) sig. C.i Comfort had he none For she was quyte gone. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cclxxiij^v All that was there begonne, was quite dasshed. 1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. v. sig. Gg6 His foule sore..She reduced, but himselfe destroyed quight. 1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 204 For now was the Greeke emperour..quite driuen out of the lesser Asia. 1630 W. Prynne Anti-Arminianisme 133 That I may quite vnuaile the hidden mysteries of this vniuersall grace. 1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 57 We found our selves forced to Intrench, lest they should have routed us quite. 1765 Treat. Domest. Pigeons 50 This article, and the young squabs, will nearly, if not quite, maintain your Pigeons in food. 1789 J. Graham Treat. Bath Waters 39 The gangrenous appearance, hardness and swelling were almost quite gone. 1861 M. Arnold Southern Night in Victoria Regia 178 Thy memory, thy pain, to-night..Possess me quite. 1866 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighb. (1878) xiii. 285 You can't quite believe there is a God at all. 1880 R. Jefferies Round about Great Estate 59 Haws..which often quite cover the hawthorn bushes. 1888 T. Hardy Wessex Tales I. 41 Thus in the space of two or three minutes the room on the ground floor was deserted quite. a1928 C. Fuller Trigardt's Trek (1932) 75 The Sikoroso speak almost as if they had quite familiarised themselves with the contents of the Dagboek. 1957 A. Ellis Let. 24 Nov. in I. L. Reiss & A. Ellis At Dawn of Sexual Revol. (2002) 85 I quite agree that complete determinism, a la Hume, is an untenable position. 1993 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Nov. 198/1 I quite understand why the girls fell for him. 2001 Times 28 Feb. i. 2/3 The self-praise and gross exaggeration..which we have come to expect from him had quite disappeared. 2. a. With prepositional phrases and adverbs of space. ΚΠ a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 2393 Þat land was him vncuth; Quit [a1400 Fairf. al; a1400 Gött. in pes] he wend haue it in wald. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 5994 (MED) Moises preyed þe toþer day þe fliȝes were alle quyt [a1400 Vesp. ware went] away. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 696 Sir Trystram hurtelyd unto that knyght and smote hym quyte frome his horse. c1480 (a1400) St. Pelagia 124 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 207 It..flaw vpe quyt in þe ayre. a1500 (a1450) Generides (Trin. Cambr.) 3048 (MED) His wepon..ranne down quyte thorough the harnes. ?1542 H. Brinkelow Complaynt Roderyck Mors xiv. sig. D4^v He bracke it quyte in pecys. 1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Giiii That is..quyte out of remembraunce. a1600 R. Hooker Remedie Sorrow & Feare (1612) 9 The sword that pearceth their soules quite through. 1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. II. 43 I have done it against the streame of my resolution quite. c1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 91 Severall nitches for statues quite round it. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xviii. 192 Dryden's and Row's manner..are quite out of fashion. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. ii. 51 I had thrown all their power quite away. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. ii. 3 Here have I sat..Quite by myself. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirlaugh I. 153 The room was not quite without ornament. 1902 W. S. Maugham Mrs. Craddock vii. 73 Here he was quite at home, no improprieties were there from which he must keep his wife, and animals were the sort of things that any man could understand. 1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart i. v. 87 Quite at a loss to understand their very cruel behaviour. 1996 Observer 31 Mar. (Life Suppl.) 14/1 A hymn to gluttony that..runs quite at odds with our shrink-wrapped attitude to dead flesh. b. Caribbean (chiefly Trinidad and Tobago). Emphasizing distance away or progress: all the way, as far as. ΚΠ 1904 Penny Cuts (Trinidad) 23 July He tell de poleeceman to tek me in chaage becos ah com quite inside he proparty. 1904 Penny Cuts (Trinidad) 15 Oct. You could see quite in Tobago if the rain ain't falling. 1939 in G. Rohlehr Calypso & Society in Pre-independence Trinidad (1990) 190 No more four shillings rooms at hand, So quite in San Juan they back they van. 1972 Express (Port of Spain, Trinidad) 8 May 13 Mr Minister while you have left Port-of-Spain and have gone quite to Tunapuna, we here..are the ones forgotten. 2000 I. McDonald in N. Hopkinson Whispers from Cotton Tree Root 250 It only end when Pot O' Rice heself summon the police from quite by Mahaica. 3. With adjectives and nouns. a. With adjectives in predicative use and attributive without preceding article.Since the emergence of sense A. 10, chiefly with particular kinds of adjective, esp. non-gradable ones, or in (explicit or implied) negative contexts. ΚΠ c1480 (a1400) St. Ninian 1336 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 342 Blynd I ame quhyt & fre. 1547 C. Langton Very Brefe Treat. Phisick ii. vi. sig. G.iii^v Many being pourged then, fall sicke of feuers, & be quite destitute of their strength. 1549 J. Ponet tr. B. Ochino Tragoedie Unjuste Usurped Primacie sig. B.ii The chiefe head of thys kyngdome shalbe directly quite contrarye to Christe. 1597 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. i. iii. 7 Threats, That his poore hearers hayre quite vpright sets. 1604 L. Andrewes Copie Serm. Good Friday sig. B2^v Able to quicken our consideration, if it bee not quite dead. 1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 314 One regardless quite Of mortal things. View more context for this quotation 1751 B. Franklin Let. in Wks. (1887) II. 215 By quite dry air, I mean the dryest we have. 1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ii. v. 175 The mold-board in the common ploughs is..almost quite straight. 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxiv. 170 I spent that day quite alone upon the Mer de Glace. 1879 R. K. Douglas Confucianism iv. 95 A man should be quite certain what he knows and what he does not know. 1954 D. Thomson People of Sea vi. 124 Before it was quite dark he saw many seals coming back to the Skerry. 1988 Early Music 16 504 This is made quite clear by the indication ‘violoncelli senza cembalo e contrabassi’. 2001 S. Walton Out of It (2002) p. xvii The increasing requirement, even in quite irrelevant circumstances, to declare to doctors what the level of one's intake is. b. With another, expressing contrast. Cf. sense A. 3c. ΚΠ 1571 J. Bridges Serm. Paules Crosse ii. 47 When they go quite an other way, when they seke the causes there, where the causes be not, when wil they finde the cause thereof? 1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie xviii. 126 This a ioyning with substantiues by waie of composition, so altereth their force, as theie signifie in dede, quite another thing. 1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §125 For the Impression of the Sound, it is quite another Thing. 1679 W. Penn Addr. Protestants ii. 146 That's quite another thing than being certain. 1817 J. Bentham Def. Econ. against Mr. Burke 35 Any such accidental display is quite another business. 1845 M. Pattison in Christian Remembrancer Jan. 77 For quite another reason. 1896 J. Conrad Outcast of Islands i. 5 He liked the simple games of skill—billiards; also games not so simple, and calling for quite another kind of skill—poker. 1973 C. Sagan Cosmic Connection (1975) xvii. 125 After all, Mars is quite another place. c. With attributive adjectives following the article (esp. the indefinite article). Chiefly with adjectives expressing contrast, such as contrary (see also the quite contrary at Phrases 1), different, opposite, etc. a quite other: quite another (rare). ΚΠ 1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius iii. sig. CC.iiij^v This secret whispering, a quite contrary kinde of Confession. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. K^v Hauing liberty, either to faine a quite newe matter, or to frame the history, to the most tragicall conueniencie. 1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. ii. vi. 162 Livius marcht..into the quite opposite quarter. 1661 H. P. Cressy Reflexions Oathes Supremacy 52 It speaks a quite other language. 1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xiii. sig. Ff5 Upon a quite contrary Account than they intended. 1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. I. viii. 251 Into things of a quite opposite nature. 1846 C. Fox Jrnl. 13 Oct. (1972) 168 Mineral veins, however, a quite different case. 1875 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera V. lx. 348 When the luxuries are produced, it becomes a quite separate question who is to have them. 1955 G. Cansdale Reptiles W. Africa iv. 74 The male Anolis Lizards, belonging to a quite different family living in America. 1973 I. Murdoch Black Prince i. 97 I wanted for once to chatter: not about what had happened of course, but about quite other things. 1977 Gramophone June 31/2 In a quite separate field, that of physics, Percy Wilson's passing will have saddened many friends and associates. 1991 R. Ferguson Henry Miller xii. 239 His conduct of the campaign reveals a quite other side to the bone-idle, talented, sponging drifter portrayed in the book as ‘Henry Miller’. d. Preceding nouns introduced by the indefinite article, in predicative use. Chiefly in negative contexts. ΚΠ c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lxix. 26 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 82 To my kynn a stranger quite, Quite an alian am I grown. 1680 Revenge; or, Match in Newgate iv. 47 Am I not stark mad yet, not quite an Ass? 1733 J. Tull Horse-hoing Husbandry xi. 51 None of them are quite a Foot High. 1777 F. Burney Early Diary July She..is not quite a natural, that is, not an absolute idiot. 1861 ‘G. Eliot’ Silas Marner i. 6 [Raveloe] was nestled in a snug well-wooded hollow, quite an hour's journey on horseback from any turnpike. 1874 E. Coues Birds Northwest 688 The wing from the flexure, differs..almost or quite an inch. 1921 F. S. Mathews Field Bk. Wild Birds & their Music (rev. ed.) 285 An extremely high-pitched, stridulent, rippling trill or reiterated note, nearly but not quite a monotone. 2000 S. King On Writing 178 It is..a bit lazy, not quite a cliché but certainly in the neighborhood. e. With numerals. Now chiefly in negative contexts. ΚΠ 1652 N. Culpeper Catastrophe Magnatum vii. 74 The time is coming, it is but two years to it, or but a little more, not quite three. 1685 J. Tutchin Unfortunate Shepherd in Poems Several Occasions 107 Cor. Pray, Father, what's your Age? Damae. Not quite an Hundred. Thyr. Almost. 1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 11. ⁋4 The Story you have given us is not quite two thousand Years Old. 1838 J. Kemper in Wisconsin Mag. Hist. (1925) VIII. 429 It was quite one when we arrived at Lathrop's tavern at Mineral Point. 1927 M. de la Roche Jalna xix. 223 There were quite eight books in the packet. 1946 S. J. Perelman Keep it Crisp 48 Before I was quite five, I devoured in a single afternoon Doughty's Arabia Deserta , the Pandects of Justinian..and the novels of Mrs. Aphra Behn. 1990 P. Auster Music of Chance i. 15 It was not quite four o'clock when they arrived. †f. Preceding a prepositional phrase containing an adjective expressing contrast. Cf. sense A. 2a. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1657 tr. J. Buccardus Prayse of Peireskius in W. Rand tr. P. Gassendi Mirrour of Nobility 262 Trees, quite of another kind. 1664 S. Pepys Diary III. 91 The comet..is gone quite to a new place in the heavens. 1751 R. Paltock Life Peter Wilkins II. xv. 180 That I did first, was quite of a different Colour from the Leaf. 4. With adverbs of manner (now esp. sentence adverbs).Since the emergence of sense A. 10, chiefly with particular kinds of adverb, esp. non-gradable ones. ΚΠ 1658 T. St. Serfe tr. M. de Marmet Entertainments of Cours 136 Will you grant me however, that it is also true, that Nature, which acts by constraint, acts quite differently from God, who is Free. 1753 J. Warton tr. Virgil Eclogues & Georgics I. iv. 388 Observe how the poet has varied his expressions..for, liquefacta boum per viscera toto et ruptis effervere costis &c. is quite newly expressed from what it was before in the passage above. 1827 D. Johnson Sketches Indian Field Sports (ed. 2) 72 The great nicety is, to fix the bow, so that the arrow may fly quite horizontally. 1872 J. Ruskin Eagle's Nest §104 Quite seriously, all the vital functions..rise and set with the sun. 1895 T. Hardy Jude ii. iv. 125 She saw the matter quite differently. 1901 F. G. Kenyon Handbk. Textual Crit. N.T. viii. 308 The δ-text..exists quite definitely in the Graeco-Latin group of uncials. 1917 A. Cahan Rise of David Levinsky (1993) xi. vii. 382 The anti-Jewish riots and massacres which the Government inspired and encouraged quite openly. 1949 K. Ferrier Let. 29 Mar. (2003) iii. 64 But I'm told..that I've had the greatest success ever, and quite honestly, I'm past caring. 1955 J. B. Shephard Land of Tikoloshe 76 If I called him ‘kaffir’ he would, quite rightly, think I was being rude. 2003 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 29 May 39/3 He believed, quite wrongly, that this ‘latent axiom’ was the key to proving the conjecture. II. As an emphasizer: actually, really, truly, positively; definitely; very much, considerably; ‘implying that the case or circumstances are such as fully justify the use of the word or phrase thus qualified’ ( N.E.D. (1902)).In senses A. 5a, A. 5c now merged in or difficult to distinguish from A. 10, except when used with non-gradable adjectives. 5. a. Preceding the indefinite article and an attributive adjective. ΚΠ a1624 R. Crakanthorpe Vigilius Dormitans (1631) xiii. 186 Here was now quite a new face of the Romane Church, yea, it was now made a new Church of it selfe. 1665 E. Stillingfleet Rational Acct. Protestant Relig. i. i. 17 Their expressest sentences seem capable of quite a different meaning to wise and learned men. 1756 W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orphans III. 49 It is quite a pleasing, rural,..plentiful retirement. 1799 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 84 Quite a comfortable dwelling. 1856 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic (ed. 4) I. iii. v. 395 (note) Up to quite a recent period. a1866 J. Keble Lett. Spiritual Counsel & Guidance (1870) 184 They are quite a large party in Edinburgh. 1884 Manch. Examiner 3 May 6/1 At quite an early hour. 1898 E. N. Westcott David Harum xxiii. 213 I hain't ben runnin' the Eagle tavern fer quite a consid'able while. 1910 Encycl. Brit. V. 548/1 Although the Ingushes speak a Chechen dialect, they have recently been proved to be, anthropologically, quite a distinct race. 1937 Amer. Home Apr. 158/3 It was quite a dreadful little house, and yet I couldn't help loving it. 1962 J. Bernard Let. Apr. in K. Payne Between Ourselves (1983) 22 It turns out everyone still loves you and thinks you quite a wonderful girl. 2000 A. Hastings in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 381/2 Whereas other religious zealots..added to the..obligations of Jewish legal orthodoxy, Jesus is portrayed as pointing in quite a different direction. b. With too. In later use chiefly colloquial and hyperbolical. ΚΠ 1659 R. Baxter Five Disputations of Church-government v. 317 Though I do as much as I am well able night and day,..my work and charge is quite too great for me. 1691 J. Harris Mistakes i. 5 Hear me before your rashness makes it quite too late To hear: 'tis Death to think you may be slain for me. 1763 C. Johnstone Reverie (new ed.) I. 137 Your offer is quite too low. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia IV. vii. i. 9 Going to Mr. Harrel's again would have been quite too dismal. 1843 J. Martineau Endeavours Christian Life I. ii. 20 Presenting the Creator to us in a relation quite too mean. 1882 H. C. Merivale Faucit of Balliol III. ii. xii. 47 I quite too awfully near put my foot in it! 1890 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang II. 164/2 Quite too nice (society), expression much used by the aesthetic female portion of society, meaning much the same as ‘awfully jolly’. 1897 A. Beardsley Let. 26 Apr. (1970) 308 It is quite too nice to be here... Yesterday we had a charming lunch party at Lapérouse. 1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era p. v It may be hoped that there are errors on every page, and also that no entry is ‘quite too dull’. 1977 P. Scupham Hinterland 15 Paquerelle, we fall back on the language of the Aesthetics: Your composition is quite too utterly too too. 2003 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 10 Dec. b9/1 The issue has become quite too political. c. With adjectives, past participles, and adverbs. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > [adverb] mid or with (‥) soothc888 soothfastlya890 soothfastc950 rightOE yeaOE soothlyOE soothOE trulyc1225 soothrightc1275 purec1300 verament1303 verily1303 purelyc1325 verimentc1325 indeedc1330 veirec1330 soothfully1340 faithlyc1350 of very (due) right?a1366 leallya1375 amenc1384 in soothnessc1386 verya1387 in certaina1400 truea1400 without(en) wougha1400 in veirec1400 in deedc1405 without famec1430 in veramentc1450 utterlyc1460 veritably1481 veritable1490 voirably1501 seriously1644 quite1736 quite1881 the world > relative properties > quantity > moderateness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] meetlyOE better?c1225 measurelyc1350 renablyc1350 measurablya1382 skilfullya1387 meanlya1398 moderatelya1398 temperately1398 reasonablyc1400 faira1413 mean1535 competently1541 meanably1577 tarblish1842 mediumly1852 quite1854 1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. ii. i. 142 To say, Revelation is a thing superfluous,..is, I think, to talk quite wildly. 1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxiii. 311 They tell me, she's..quite smart and handsome. 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones V. xiii. v. 40 The Widow, quite charm'd with her new Lodger, invited him..to Breakfast. View more context for this quotation 1805 E. Clark Banks of Douro I. 248 She felt..so perturbed..that she was quite ill and restless. 1834 W. Beckford Italy; with Sketches Spain & Portugal I. 326 The gallery immediately before its entrance appeared quite gay. 1848 J. F. W. Herschel Ess. (1857) 342 A ship sailing northwards passes quite suddenly from cold into hot water. 1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 226 Perhaps I have owed to this employment and to hunting, when quite young, my closest acquaintance with Nature. 1871 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera I. iii. 17 You would observe..the quite Anglican character of Richard. 1907 H. James Amer. Scene xiv. 430 But most of all, I think, I recall the quite lively resolve not to give way..to the provocation of their suggestiveness. 1966 N. Coward Diary 27 Apr. (2000) 630 The ovation at the final curtain was quite, quite wonderful. 2001 Nat. New England May–June 53/1 Traffic jams of broken pieces of ice can form quite suddenly as soon as ice cover begins to break up. d. With superlatives used attributively, preceding the definite article. ΚΠ 1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews II. iv. x. 251 A Character she had ever maintained among her Intimates, being of that number, every Individual of which is called quite the best sort of Woman in the World. View more context for this quotation 1845 E. Acton Mod. Cookery xx. 548 This is quite the best sweet preparation of rice that we have ever eaten. 1863 F. Locker London Lyrics (1870) 106 And all that sort of thing, of which Dear Hawthorne's ‘quite’ the best describer. 1883 Harper's Mag. Nov. 882/1 The auditorium is quite the largest in the world. 1911 G. B. Shaw Getting Married in Doctor's Dilemma 218 Don't you think her letters are quite the best love-letters I get? 1934 W. B. Yeats Words upon Window-pane 36 Exactly: quite the best kind of mediumship if you want to establish the identity of a spirit. 1981 Country Life 12 Feb. 409/1 The high degree of accuracy..quite the highest, surely, that can be attained. 1992 Gramophone Jan. 64/1 Quite the blackest snarl from the trombones at the end..that I have heard. 6. Preceding a noun introduced by a determiner.In later usage, often used to indicate (frequently ironically) that the person or thing in question is regarded as particularly remarkable or impressive. a. With indefinite article. Formerly also occasionally without article and with noun in plural.quite a few: see few adj., pron., and n. Phrases 1c. quite a number: see number n. 9a. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > [adverb] > with emphatic or ironic commendation quite1806 1738 A. Pope Satires of Horace ii. vi. 146 Something..quite a scandal not to learn. 1762 R. Lloyd Poet. Wks. (1774) I. 183 It's quite a journey to come here. 1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. xii. 318 That must have been quite a scene! 1816 J. Austen Emma III. vi. 86 You are an odd creature!.. You are a humourist... Quite a humourist. View more context for this quotation 1840 W. M. Thackeray Catherine i There's many a girl in the village that at my age is quite chits. 1859 C. M. Tuttle Diary 30 May in Wisconsin Mag. Hist. (1931) XV. 78 Council Bluffs is quite a place containing about 3 thousand inhabitants. 1896 T. F. Tout Edward I (ed. 2) iv. 79 A daughter..who died when quite a child. 1908 M. Moore Let. 26 Jan. in Sel. Lett. (1997) 34 Your letter gave me quite a brace. 1917 Dial. Notes 4 398 An extension of the adverbial use as in ‘He is quite a lad’. 1938 E. Hemingway Fifth Column i. iii. 28 Comrade's quite a word. I suppose I oughtn't to chuck it around. 1950 ‘D. Divine’ King of Fassarai xx. 166 We had us a party last night—quite a party. 1989 A. Aird 1990 Good Pub Guide 826 The big side conservatory..is quite an oasis for families. 1996 N. Maraire Zenzele ii. 11 The gardener..had quite a job, for the garden was magnificent and vast. b. With definite article.quite the thing: see thing n.¹ 7a. ΚΠ 1752 G. A. Stevens Distress upon Distress i. ii. 37 Tho' Swearing is at present in tip top Taste, and quite the Thing, I don't believe the Generality of Gentlemen Cursers take a sufficient Time to recollect what they are going to do when they swear. 1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. 55 It [silk] is at once rich, tastey, and quite the thing. 1787 G. Colman Inkle & Yarico iii. i. 56 I march'd the lobby, twirl'd my stick..The girls all cry'd, ‘He's quite the kick!’ 1799 S. T. Coleridge Lett. (1895) 277 Pipes are quite the rage. 1803 in Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1804) 7 20 Quite the tippy for the boxes. 1865 Sat. Rev. July 14 The Chancellor is not quite the right man for his..place. 1881 H. James Portrait of Lady II. xvii. 207 The proportions of the windows, and even the details of the cornice, had quite the grand air. 1903 H. James Ambassadors i. i. 9 He had quite the sense that she knew things he didn't. 1911 W. A. Raleigh Let. 15 Dec. (1926) II. 374 I've been lecturing at Glasgow... Now that I'm not there I'm quite the craze. 1957 J. Braine Room at Top (1960) 141 Ah. Quite the sybarite, aren't you? 1978 H. Wouk War & Remembrance viii. 86 She's turned into quite the spiffy New York gal. 1995 K. Atkinson Behind Scenes at Museum (1996) ii. 93 Bunty..was quite the thing nowadays in heels and stockings and even lipstick. c. Originally U.S. With some. Cf. quite something at Phrases 4. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > [adverb] mid or with (‥) soothc888 soothfastlya890 soothfastc950 rightOE yeaOE soothlyOE soothOE trulyc1225 soothrightc1275 purec1300 verament1303 verily1303 purelyc1325 verimentc1325 indeedc1330 veirec1330 soothfully1340 faithlyc1350 of very (due) right?a1366 leallya1375 amenc1384 in soothnessc1386 verya1387 in certaina1400 truea1400 without(en) wougha1400 in veirec1400 in deedc1405 without famec1430 in veramentc1450 utterlyc1460 veritably1481 veritable1490 voirably1501 seriously1644 quite1736 quite1881 1881 Hopewell (New Jersey) Herald 20 Apr. After quite some bluster two of them, named Compton and Grymes, undertook to settle it with a mill. 1895 Argosy Nov. 107/1 They have a burlesque every spring, and it's quite some fun. 1896 Dial. Notes 1 422 You'll have quite some potatoes on the patch. 1931 Amer. Speech Oct. 20 It was quite some excitement we had for a while. 1966 F. Nwapa Efuru xi. 212 They made quite some money out of this. 1977 Lancs. Life Nov. 58/2 A wooden toy..for £125. It was, as you will have gathered, quite some toy. 2005 V. Young Programming Multiplayer FPS in DirectX ii. 47 We could continue discussing templates for quite some time. 7. With prepositional or adverbial phrases. Now rare. ΚΠ 1748 Lady Anson in A. Buck Dress in 18th Cent. Eng. (1979) ii. 34 The Poupé..did not arrive time enough for me to..adjust my coiffure quite in the taste it might to have been in. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia II. iv. vi. 202 We began with Cotillons, and finished with country dances. It was the most elegant thing you ever saw in your life; everything quite in a style. 1846 W. S. Landor Wks. II. 16 There are minerals and instruments quite at hand. 1899 Daily News 1 Dec. 8/2 The account of the making of the first axe..is told quite in the heroic style of Kingsley and Morris. 1941 A. C. Bouquet Compar. Relig. iv. 36 But this ‘high god’ is quite in the background, and is so much of a roi fainéant that nobody addresses any worship to him. 8. With verbs. Now rare. ΚΠ 1770 E. Carter Let. 8 June (1817) II. 67 I quite longed for you to share my admiration of it. 1819 Metropolis (ed. 2) I. 213 Lady Mildew..quite haunts us. 1819 Metropolis (ed. 2) I. 249 A certain upstart commoner..quite made love to me. 1848 J. H. Newman Loss & Gain 192 A great personage..quite scoffed at their persisting to hold it. 1879 M. L. Molesworth Tapestry Room i. 9 She must have grown drowsy with the quiet and the heat of the fire, for she quite started when the door again opened. 1897 B. Stoker Dracula v. 61 This quite upset me. 1911 F. H. Burnett Secret Garden xi. 106 She quite panted with eagerness. 1929 M. Lowry Let. in Sursum Corda! (1995) I. 60 It seems quite fated that I should write this letter just like this on this warm bright day while outside a man shouts Rag-a-bone, Rag-a-bone. III. As a moderating adverb: to a certain or significant extent or degree; moderately, somewhat, rather; relatively, reasonably.This sense is often difficult to distinguish from sense A. II., out of which it developed; the shift in meaning being from ‘certainly having the specified character in (at least) some degree’ to ‘having the specified character in some degree (though not completely)’. 9. Preceding the indefinite article. Cf. sense A. 5a. ΚΠ 1805 ‘C. Caustic’ Democracy Unveiled vi. 203 Had Lawyer L——n staid at home, His honour might have pass'd, with some, For quite a decent country Squire. 1845 S. Smith May-day in N.Y. ii. 48 I thought I shouldn't like 'em very well at first; but on the whole I think it's quite a nice place. 1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 104 She is likewise quite a new piece, not having exposed her goods to market above three months. 1884 Times 13 Mar. 10/1 The trim white houses..give it quite a pretty appearance as one enters from the sea. 1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out iii. 51 The woman has quite a fine face, only she dresses..in a potato sack, and wears her hair like a Liberty shopgirl's. 1985 Washington Post (Nexis) 4 Feb. a11 You may be quite a decent computer programmer, but few prospective employers will believe it if you speak poorly. 2003 Daily Tel. 14 Oct. 20/2 Five middle-class people and two elderly labradors. In a garage. I mean, quite a roomy garage—but really. 10. Modifying adjectives, adverbs, or verbs.rare in North American usage.With many adjectives and adverbs (esp. gradable ones), quite is ambiguous between this sense and sense A. I.; in the latter sense it now tends to collocate with particular kinds of adjective and adverb (esp. non-gradable ones). a. Modifying adjectives. ΚΠ 1845 C. Darwin Jrnl. (ed. 2) ii. 37 I once,..saw..a large female wasp caught in the irregular web of a quite small spider. 1874 Thistleton's Illustr. Jolly Giant III. 12 Sept. 129/1 In other words, he was quite drunk when he entered, but still more drunk at the time alluded to. 1889 J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat ix. 144 If so, who was the real one that was dreaming, and who was the one that was only a dream: it got quite interesting. 1931 E. O'Neill Homecoming i, in Mourning becomes Electra (1932) 16 Borne on the light puffs of wind this music is at times quite loud. 1958 ‘A. Bridge’ Portuguese Escape xvi. 265 You shall..when you have answered one quite small question: where is now Dr. Antal Horvath? 1976 C. Sarfas Space & Space Trav. 19 But the astronauts were wearing their heavy spacesuits and equipment, so even on the moon it was quite hard to move. 1980 J. McClure Blood of Englishman xvi. 144 I only said a ‘quite’ brilliant idea, sir—not a ‘very’. 1997 Select June 133/2 If you're drunk or high on goofballs, night-time TV is quite pleasant, but it can be a bit depressing. b. Modifying adverbs. ΚΠ 1886 Science 30 Apr. 403/1 The lithographer has done his work quite, though hardly very, well. 1919 G. B. Shaw Heartbreak House ii, in Heartbreak House, Great Catherine, & Playlets of War 54 Theyve been proud of my poverty. Theyve even joked about it quite often. 1952 N. Coward Diary 5 Apr. (2000) 190 I did a self-portrait staring in the mirror... There is a faint likeness and it is quite well drawn. 1987 R. Berthoud Life Henry Moore viii. 150 The Moores quite frequently visited the Pipers' farmhouse at Fawley Bottom. 2005 Allergy Apr. 29/1 Products made from pine resin are also quite widely found. c. Modifying verbs (chiefly enjoy, fancy, like). ΚΠ 1942 N. Balchin Darkness falls from Air ii. 35 While of course he didn't ask me out to dinner because of my beaux yeux, he did really quite like me. 1952 A. Wilson Hemlock & After iii. 58 I quite like queers if it comes to that, so long as they're not on the make like Evelyn's boys. 1985 W. Sheed Frank & Maisie ii. 27 Although he personally thinks that wine tastes like iron filings, he quite enjoys watching other people drink the stuff. 1992 More 28 Oct. 48/2 I quite fancy the idea of having a househusband. B. adj. colloquial. Short for ‘quite a gentleman (lady, etc.)’; socially acceptable. Usually in negative contexts. Also modified by quite. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > [adjective] > having good social position goodOE conditioned1632 visitable1765 swell1810 well-placed1814 silver-tail1898 quite1907 the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > good repute > reputability or honourableness > [adjective] > respectable substantious1490 proper1600 creditable1624 decent1712 respectable1750 gradely1763 pukka1776 nice1799 salonfähig1905 quite1907 resp1922 1831 M. Edgeworth Let. 11 Apr. (1971) 517 Mrs. Fitton..is very quite and pleasing. 1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. xlii. 371 Still he wasn't quite,—not quite, you know—‘not quite so much of a gentleman as I am,’—Mr Walker would have said, had he spoken out freely that which he insinuated. But he contented himself with the emphasis he put upon the ‘not quite’, which expressed his meaning fully. 1878 A. Trollope Is he Popenjoy? I. xiv. 195 ‘I have always liked the Dean personally,’ said Lady Sarah... ‘But he isn't—he isn't quite—’ ‘No; he isn't quite—,’ said Lord George, also hesitating to pronouce the word which was understood by both of them. 1907 M. E. Braddon Dead Love has Chains vi. 124 Oh, she is quite quite, don't you know... Her father is Sir Michael Thelliston. 1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out xi. 159 Mr. Perrott..knew that he was not ‘quite’, as Susan stated..; not quite a gentleman she meant. 1926 Whispering Gallery viii. 114 He's not ‘quite quite’, you know, but he's so clever. 1930 C. Williams Poetry at Present 165 That awful moment when..one feels that one is ‘not quite’. 1945 A. Huxley Time must have Stop (new ed.) xxi. 200 ‘You'll find him a bit..well, you know, not quite...’ The deprecating gesture sufficiently indicated what he quite wasn't. 1956 J. Masters Bugles & Tiger xv. 182 This was supposed to be not quite quite, and British officers took no part in it. 1960 M. Cecil Something in Common 7 ‘She's a Lady’ (acceptable), or ‘He's not Quite’ (rejected). 1992 N.Y. Times 8 Apr. a25/5 Over and over you hear about folks who are uncomfortable with him, who think he's too slick or too polished or just not quite quite. C. int. colloquial (chiefly British). As an emphatic affirmation: ‘just so’; ‘absolutely’. Cf. quite so at Phrases 3. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > assent > [adverb] > expression of assent yesOE yeaOE soa1400 toa1525 very well1529 yus1775 yerse1862 yeah1863 yeh1868 orright1874 yep1883 yup1887 ayuh1894 yairs1896 yayus1900 yip1906 too right1919 quite1924 1924 J. Galsworthy White Monkey ii. ii. 131 ‘I don't hold with it, myself.’ ‘No, quite!’ 1931 P. G. Wodehouse If I were You xxii. 243 ‘Our likes and dislikes are not the point,’ she said. ‘The thing's impossible.’ ‘Quite,’ agreed Sir Herbert. 1962 D. Lessing Golden Notebk. i. 131 ‘I've been supporting policies that should put an end to the whole bloody business.’ ‘Quite. And quite right.’ 1976 K. Bonfiglioli Something Nasty in Woodshed x. 123 ‘No takers,’ I said. ‘Quite. By the way, I'm sorry to say “quite” all the time but..my work lies amongst Americans and they expect Englishmen to say it.’ 1986 Times Lit. Suppl. 29 Aug. 927/3 ‘His influence encountered no resistance.’ Quite. But what if it should happen that..his influence did encounter resistance? Phrases P1. †the quite contrary: something that is completely contrary (obsolete).Frequently in 16th–17th centuries. ΚΠ 1572 J. Whitgift Answere to Admon. 158 Farre from making the man of God perfecte to all good workes, that rather the quite contrary may be confirmed. 1682 J. Bunyan Holy War 150 If he heard his neighbour tell his tale, to be sure he would tell the quite contrary . View more context for this quotation 1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 493. ⁋1 In proportion to his deserving the quite contrary. P2. quite the reverse (in predicative use): the very opposite. ΚΠ 1716 M. Davies Athenæ Britannicæ II. 401 Which was quite the reverse in those two..Prelates. 1842 F. Marryat Percival Keene I. ii. 23 With the other sex she was full of merriment and fond of joking, consequently a great favourite; towards her own sex her conduct was quite the reverse. 1992 Guardian 2 Jan. 18/6 The rise of racism and fascism in Europe is hardly helping matters. Quite the reverse. P3. colloquial (chiefly British). quite so (as an emphatic affirmation): ‘just so’; ‘absolutely’. ΚΠ 1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son i. 4 ‘Quite so,’ assented the Doctor. 1892 A. Conan Doyle Adventures Sherlock Holmes x. 246 ‘This maid Alice, as I understand, deposes that she..put on a bonnet, and went out.’ ‘Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde-park.’ 1938 A. Berkeley Not to be Taken iv. 87 Quite so, my dear chap. Then if you'll be good enough to make yourself scarce, I'll examine my patient. 1969 A. O'Toole Racing Game 49 ‘It'll be round about ten dollars.’.. ‘Won't harm anybody,’ I agreed. ‘Quite so,’ Joe said. 1997 W. Self Great Apes (1998) vii. 117 Quite so, quite so. Well, I'll wait to see from you then. P4. colloquial (originally U.S.) quite something: an impressive or remarkable person or thing. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [noun] > a special thing > an) extraordinary thing(s) singularity1576 extraordinary1589 remarkable1639 extraordinary1650 something else1844 cough drop1851 quite something1909 1909 Washington Post 3 Jan. (Misc. section) 1/3 It cost the state quite something to pay for the blank ammunition that was fired off at our own men. 1956 O. Keepnews Jelly Roll Morton in View Within (1988) ii. 63 The thirty-eight-block Tenderloin District adjoining Canal Street was obviously quite something. 1968 Guardian 10 Oct. 7/2 She found out that I was sleeping with someone else and she had to accept the situation which was quite something because it wasn't even a woman. 1971 ‘L. Black’ Death has Green Fingers iii. 25 Your village seems to be quite something with the lid off. 1995 K. Atkinson Behind Scenes at Museum (1996) iii. 105 Their cousin Edmund was quite something—a handsome, brave bomb-aimer stationed at Croft and delighted to meet his English cousins. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.1924adv.adj.int.c1330
随便看	tragi-comi-farcical tragi-comi-operatical tragi-comi-pastoral tragi-drama tragi-farce tragi-farcical tragi-romance tragi-romantic tragi-satirical tragic tragic flaw tragic irony tragic-comedy tragic-comical tragic-fated tragic-humorous tragic-ironic tragic-storied tragic-voiced tragical tragicality tragically tragicalness tragicalnesses tragicatastrophe

quiten.

quiteadv.adj.int.

Phrases