quite a
∞
3.2
- idiom
- /kwaɪt ə/
- You have quite a colorful past, Kelly.
- quite a bit
- quite a few
- quite a lot
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Watch on YouTubeAnd that's, you know, quite, quite a claim being made there.
- And that's, you know, quite, quite a claim being made there.
- I'm the eldest of three brothers, quite a close knit family.
- And, and it was actually quite a remarkable experience.
- All right, It's, it was quite a stressful morning, I would say.
- No, I think I'm sort of quite a confident person myself.
- So that's the Rivian and that's been quite a week, quite a week.
- Now, we're trying to conduct this dig in a quite a quiet, calm fashion.
- That's how my life has become quite a global existence.
Examples
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Yes, I have read quite a few in my time, sir.
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Ooh, this is quite a place.
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That was quite a fire.
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I have spent quite a lot of money on her.
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It's quite an honor having you here.
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It's quite a humbling experience.
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Well, now, it was quite a storm, though, Taff.
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You really gave Deluca quite a scare.
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The influx of disruptive behaviors is causing quite a stir throughout classrooms in America.
Academic text (2011) -
This cake is quite a masterpiece of culinary art.
Synonyms
∞
6.8
Very impressive in a way that surprises people
139
3.5
To show that something is very surprising or impressive
120
8.1
Very impressive or very difficult
Antonyms
How Remarkable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines the degree adverb 'quite' with the indefinite article 'a' to form an intensifying, compositional pattern (e.g. 'quite a surprise' = 'a rather/very surprising event'). This semantic contribution is predictable from the constituents and common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the words would readily infer the meaning (note: 'a' in this MWE functions as an article rather than the noun form given).
Etymology
The phrase quite a comes from the word quite, which long ago meant 'completely'. People put quite a before a noun to make it sound stronger, so 'quite a musician' meant a very impressive musician. So today quite a still shows something is unusually noticeable or 'remarkable'.