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Glite Dictionary
✅ To be eligible ✏️ To limit or specify
to qualify

to qualify

147 4.4
To make something more specific by adding details or limits
  • verb
  • /ˈkwɑːlɪˌfaɪ/
translation icon : matizar
  • The findings of this study must be qualified by several limitations of the methods.
  • qualify an answer
  • qualify in two ways

That's why I tried to qualify this by saying large sums.

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Examples

  • They attempted to qualify the rules by adding a few important conditions.

  • Three broad themes seem to me to qualify as central elements of Hayek's legacy.

    Academic text (1999)

  • So can we qualify what level of famous and what sex?

  • Do you expect me to qualify that with an answer?

    Charlie Bartlett (2008)

  • Why do you qualify this as dehumanizing?

  • Again, all five studies were awarded ratings that qualified them to meet acceptable standards.

    Academic text (2013)

  • So what now qualifies for you as good pizza if you could have one type of pizza delivered to you?

  • Still, in the abstract, many different practices may qualify as fully justifiable relative to any given society.

    Academic text (1990)

  • I find it slightly amusing that my son thinks this doesn't qualify as real suffering.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I don't believe the FBI currently has an investigative unit... qualified to pursue the evidence in hand.

    The X-Files (1998)

Synonyms

to specify
vsto qualify
118 3.5

To give clear, exact details about something

focuses on narrowing meaning by adding conditions or small limiting words
to modify
vsto qualify
  • Specialized
16 4.5

Add a word or phrase that gives more information about another word

applies more broadly to limit meaning beyond a single word or phrase

Antonyms

to generalize
  • US
41 4.2

To form a general idea from one or a few examples

How Specific

to specify
118 3.5
to qualify
147 4.4
to describe
∞ 1.0
to indicate
834 2.7
to hint
136 2.0

Surface Forms

qualify infinitive
qualified past
qualified past participle
qualifying present participle
qualifies third person singular

Morphology

qualify = qual + ify

Although the ending '-ify' suggests a verb meaning 'make X', the bound root 'qual-' is not a standalone English word and this sense 'make a statement more limited or specific' is not readily inferable for most learners.

Etymology

Qualify comes from the Latin root qualis meaning 'of what kind', the same root as quality. So to qualify a statement is to show its kind or to add limits and details that make it more specific.