1
: wholly, completely
not quite finished
2
: to an extreme : positively
quite sure
—often used as an intensifier with aquite a swell guy
quite a beauty
3
: to a considerable extent : rather
quite near
see also:
Examples of quite in a Sentence
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.
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.
Recent Examples on the Web
The mellow assurance of Beam’s team of professionals suggests the heyday of Laurel Canyon without quite conjuring any hippie ghosts.
—Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 2 Mar. 2026
So, did three-time host Kristen Bell crush it quite as hard as, say, Nikki Glaser at the Golden Globes?
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 2 Mar. 2026
Still, Ricks thinks humans, with or without AI, are quite far off in biological R&D, despite the advancements in medicine already achieved.
—Jake Angelo, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2026
Thanks to major players such as McQueen, Zimmermann, and Giambattista Valli, full-on frills have never felt quite so relevant for every occasion.
—Alison Syrett Cleary, Glamour, 2 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for quite
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Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 2 Mar. 2026
So, did three-time host Kristen Bell crush it quite as hard as, say, Nikki Glaser at the Golden Globes?
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 2 Mar. 2026
Still, Ricks thinks humans, with or without AI, are quite far off in biological R&D, despite the advancements in medicine already achieved.
—Jake Angelo, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2026
Thanks to major players such as McQueen, Zimmermann, and Giambattista Valli, full-on frills have never felt quite so relevant for every occasion.
—Alison Syrett Cleary, Glamour, 2 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for quite
Cite this Entry
“Quite.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quite. Accessed 3 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
quite
adverb1
: beyond question or doubt : completely
quite alone
quite sure
2
: more or less sense 1, rather
we live quite near the school
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