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 quite a bit, quite a few
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.
Recent Examples on the Web
Then, another cold front is predicted to return this weekend — dropping temperatures back down quite rapidly.
—Ray Padilla, Louisville Courier Journal, 7 Jan. 2026
And because the world has more oil supply than demand, global crude prices are quite low; the global benchmark is a little over $60 per barrel.
—Camila Domonoske, NPR, 7 Jan. 2026
There's an oddly comforting feeling along Minnesota's North Shore in winter—one of being wholly alone yet never quite so.
—Julia Sayers Gokhale, Midwest Living, 7 Jan. 2026
Emery Lehman, who is just 29 but will be competing in his fourth Olympics (1,500, team pursuit) and then doing his own retiring, is quite starry-eyed when talking about Bowe.
—Steve Buckley, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for quite
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Cite this Entry
“Quite.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quite. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
Kids 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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