Does ‘quite’ just mean very?

US and UK English use "quite" very differently so more context is required. In US English, "This cake is quite good" means the cake is great. In UK English, "This cake is quite good" means the cake is *pretty* good but not great.

This is a US Vs British English difference. In the UK "quite" means more like "somewhat". Whereas in American English (afaia) it means "very".

He’s quite handsome. For me the quite is somewhere between a normal amount of handsome and a very amount.

Every now and again, I see questions on here that as a native speaker, make me feel sorry for people learning English. This is one of them.

>I personally think it has more of a sarcastic or slightly judgmental tone. The word itself is neutral, but the *tone of voice* or the usage can make it sarcastic.

To me quite is a bit less than very, for example “he thought is was very good” means he really liked it whereas “he thought it was quite good” means he thought it was ok.

It's a moderate word, but that can be the joke. "He is quite hairy" can mean that he is markedly hairy. I could also be talking about Cousin It from The Adams Family, and the joke is that I'm chosing my words carefully when describing the hairiest man alive. It's situational, and the sarcastic use requires the sincere use to be in common use.

A lot of people mention yes, it can add emphasis to mean "very good" Though a phrase popped in my head. Heres an example: "Have you finished washing the dishes?" "Not quite..." in this instance, it means: i have started washing dishes, but i havent finished. (The person washing the dishes, probably doesnt want to say no to avoid conflict, so they say not quite instead) Sorry if this is confusing

The base meaning is "moderately". So, not as much as "very".

"Very" and "pretty" don't mean the same thing, at least to me. Something that is very good is better than something that is pretty good. I see "quite good" as about the same as "pretty good".

Not quite, no.

Ok, UK for normal adjectives it makes them less strong quite good, quite tasty etc For strong adjectives it makes them stronger Quite brilliant, quite delicious. But you have to get the stress right in spoken English

It depends on region, context and intonation. Other commenters have pointed out the difference in usage between UK and US. But even within each region it has different meanings. Here is an example of how it changes meaning with intonation in the UK: e.g. 1. *It was quite good!* [sentence intonation rising on 'good'] = I am pleasantly surprised by how good it was. e.g. 2. *It was quite good.* [sentence intonation rising on 'quite', falling on 'good'] = it was not bad, but not great. Example 1: *I thought the movie would be terrible, but it was quite good.* Example 2: *I went to see that movie. It was quite good, but not something I'd watch again.*

l think "quite" is closest to "remarkably".

It really depends on context honestly

Not quite

And then there’s the use, “Quite,” which I see somewhat as a replacement for exactly.

It depends on the context. It can mean completely, or moderately. There is some difference between British and American, but even in British English it is often used for both. "She looked quite perfect" - absolutely amazing. "The weather is quite nice" - OK-not-great. But even then, it depends on the situation, and the tone, and if it's sarcasm.

not quite!

American. Quite can mean anything from 5 to 10 stars out of 10 being the highest. In order would be terrible, awful, garbage, rubbish, below average, not very good, ho-hum, ok, average, fair, good, nice, above average,really good, quite good, awesome, fantastic. Quite often expresses a little bit higher than an expected quality. My blind date last night was quite pretty. Meaning she was prettier than how your friend described her. That was meal was quite good for the price.

Annoyingly in British English "quite" can mean anything from "somewhat": "the film was quite funny" to "completely": "the acting was quite brilliant". A bit like "fine" can mean both "ok": "the performance was fine" and "excellent": "it was a fine performance".

In British English quite definitely doesn't mean the same as very. If say I called a girl 'quite pretty' I'd expect her to be offended! (So I obviously wouldn't say this.) Quite is similar to other words like fairly or somewhat - it's a bit of whatever comes next but nothing like as positive as very would be.

Not quite.

Something I didn't see anyone mention: in slightly older and/or somewhat posh British English, it can be used as a full sentence by itself or as "Yes, quite" to express agreement.

It can also be used to to be similar to 'nearly', such as "We didn't quite get there on time" = "We were a little late getting there"

In addition to everything everyone’s already said, if you say something “isn’t quite” x or y, you mean “almost.” If the cake isn’t quite done, it’s almost done. You’re more likely to say something isn’t quite something else when it isn’t something that can be completed. For example, if the cake were in the oven, I would say it’s almost done. It isn’t complete yet, but it will be. But if the cake had been taken out of the oven and cooled and frosted and served, and I bit into it and it was still a bit gooey, that’s when I’d say the cake isn’t quite done. It’s almost done, but it won’t ever get done. It’s can’t be completed now.

It either means "maximally, or to the upmost or exact degree" or "fairly, or to an above average or expected degree" e.g. It is quite excellent / it is the highest degree of excellent e.g. It is quite out of the question / it is completely out of the question e.g. not quite what I wanted / not exactly what I wanted (in the UK this means not even close to what I wanted; I believe in the US this is more usually understood to mean this is close but not exactly what I wanted) or e.g. the movie was quite good / the movie was fairly good, better than expected e.g. this box is quite heavy / this box is fairly heavy, more than you might realise e.g. the meeting was quite long / the meeting was longer than usual It can also be used as a word that means "extremely" to describe something that is "only slightly" to be polite or to be sarcastic, which often comes down to tone and context. This is the same as "really" and "very" and "amazing" etc which can all be used sarcastically in the same way. Because it means exactly or completely, you can also use it as a one-word reply similar to "100%" e.g. "The coffee in this machine is awful." - "Quite!" / I completely agree / you are exactly right or in the negative e.g. "Has the coffee finished brewing yet?" - "Not quite" / not completely / not 100%

Not good at all > Not good > Good > Quite good > Very good > Very, very good > So (!) good.

Non-native here. After reading comments and checking the dictionary, I'm pretty/quite sure they mean the same thing. What varies is intonation, perception and context.

I find this word to be one of the most versatile and therefore challenging to pin down because the intended nuance is often highly dependent on tone, facial expression and context. To my mind it's more the lexical equivalent of adding white to brighten or black to darken a hue to slightly modify a colour. It is often added as a version of some kind of marker of degree (like very, but not quite... 😉) Adding a dab of white- - He's quite a catch. - She is quite the seamstress. Adding a dab of black- - Be careful, he has quite a reputation. (Said with an almost imperceptible tilt of the head, widening eyes and gently raising eyebrows. Then it can also be more neutral- - You wouldn't be quite so eager if you were paying. - Don't worry, that's quite a common mistake. And it can often mean significant, so more than a little but less than huge- - There were quite a few people queued up at the post office this morning. - There is quite a need for nurses at the moment. Then it can also be expressing something like 'when you think about it, that is +adj'- - It may not have been your intention, but what you said was actually quite rude. There's so much more to 'quite' than just 'very'. It can add a hint of positive or negative emphasis to what you're saying, and sometimes it can be preferable to very if the speaker wants to add a nuance to a statement that suggests they thought things might be otherwise (This jewellery was quite inexpensive). It's quite a versatile addition to your English 😁

I was surprised and my eyes were opened to the underlying meaning of “quite” when learning German and found that “ganz” translates the word, but means “completely”. So to be “quite good” meant “great” but I felt it had the meaning of “sufficiently”, so thus meant “just good enough”. Intonation has a fair bit to do with it as well, or emphasis perhaps. I’m Australian by the way.

It's quite *good* = it's very good It's *quite* good = it's somewhat good

In British English, ‘quite’ is a diminisher unless used with an adjective that is already a superlative, whereupon it becomes an intensifier. This must be incredibly confusing for learners. Examples. ‘Quite brilliant’ - very very brilliant. ‘Quite amazing’ - really really amazing. ‘Quite good’ - not very good, just OK. ‘Quite sad’ - a little bit sad. ‘Quite interesting’ - sort of interesting in a mild way. ‘Quite fascinating’ - really very interesting indeed! Now I believe that in American English, ‘quite’ is almost always an intensifier. So ‘quite good’ means very good, ‘quite interesting’ means really very interesting indeed.

Some usages are close to “entirely” or “completely“: “I'm not quite finished” means I’m almost finished (at a task).

UK English here, **Quite (unstressed) means notably so, but not extremely.** "The house's quite pretty" - it's not *stunning,* but it's better than average. **Quite (stressed) is often used to say "contrary to expectations/your beliefs"** "The house is *quite* pretty" - the house is notably prettier than expected, or maybe the other speaker assumed it was ugly, so you're correcting them. \- this also implies that the word "pretty" is almost an understatement. On a scale of all intensifiers I personally use: No intensifier -> Quite (unstressed) -> Very / Quite (stressed) -> So / Really / Actually...though\* -> like, actually (stressed) -> Super \**Actually...though* also functions as a contradiction, like "despite expectations/contrary to popular belief"

Traditionally it means "to a certain extent", i.e. if something is big but not not the biggest "it's quite big". However, colloquially it's become a word that's used to express a stronger emphasis on the proceeding adjective. Can be used in place of "very" or "extremely". It's hard to explain the difference, you just sort of get used to it and understand which use it has based on speech patterns and inflections I think? Someone else will be able to explain better than I have.

I'd say it's somewhere between very and not. Still... of the thing, but not as much as 'very'.

It's used in two different ways in British English. You might say 'Quite!' or 'Quite right!' to show very strong agreement, but describing a film as 'quite good' means not bad but not amazing.

For UK English, this is quite (ha!) accurate [https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/eb/qa/pretty-fairly-really-very-and-quite](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/eb/qa/pretty-fairly-really-very-and-quite)

There's also this odd usage: She was wearing quite a bit of perfume, meaning she was stinking up the whole house. Or Grandma gave me quite a few cookies to bring home which means almost too many cookies to carry! I also think quite as very sort of tends to be followed by a qualifying phrase. As in, this house is quite stylish...but, isn't it a bit cold? OR, by an unspoken qualifying phrase: He's quite well educated \[but also insufferable\].

American speaker here. I’ll offer one possible interpretation. If someone says The cake is quite good, I understand that they didn’t expect it to be good, and they were pleasantly surprised that it was good. If they said It’s very good, that carries no preconceived notion.