Absolute vs Quite - What's the difference?
absolute | quite |
(obsolete) Absolved; free.
(obsolete) Disengaged from accidental circumstances.
(archaic) Complete in itself; perfect.
* (rfdate) :
(grammar) Not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence; as
# (of a case form) syntactically connected to the rest of the sentence in an atypical manner; ablative absolute; nominative absolute; genitive absolute; accusative absolute.
# standing by itself in a loose syntactical connection, and qualifying the sentence as a whole rather than any single word in it.
# (of an adjective or possessive pronoun) lacking a modified substantive.
# (comparative, superlative) expressing a relative term without a definite comparison.'
# having no direct object.
# (Irish, Welsh) an inflected verb that is not preceded by any number of articles or compounded with a preverb.
(obsolete) Absorbed in, as an occupation.
Unrestricted; in sole control; possessing absolute power; independent, as in ownership or authority.
Pure; unmixed; as, absolute alcohol.
(figurative) Complete; utter; outright; unmitigated; entire; total; not qualified or diminished in any way; unrestricted; without limitation.
Unconditional; free from any conditions, limitations, and relations;
# having unlimited power, without limits set by a constitution, parliament, or other means.
# proceeding from or characteristic of an absolute ruler.
* 1962 , Hannah Arendt, On Revolution , (1990), page 155:
# Absolutist; arbitrary; despotic.
Real; actual.
(archaic) Certain; free from doubt or uncertainty, as a person or prediction.
* (rfdate) (William Shakespeare), Cymbeline , Act 4, Scene 2:
Positive; unquestionable; peremptory.
Free from conditional limitations; operating or existing in full under all circumstances without variation.
(philosophy) Existing, able to be thought of, or able to be viewed without relation to other things.
* (rfdate) :
Authoritative; peremptory.
* (rfdate) :
(philosophy) Fundamental; ultimate; intrinsic; free from the variability and error natural to the human way of thinking and perception.
(physics) Independent of arbitrary units of measurement not comparative or relative as,
# having reference to or derived from the simplest manner from the fundamental units of mass, time, and length.
# relating to the absolute temperature scale.
(legal) Complete; unconditional; final; without encumbrances; not liable to change or cancellation.
(education) Pertaining to a grading system based on the knowledge of the individual and not on the comparative knowledge of the group of students.
(art) Concerned entirely with expressing beauty and feelings, lacking meaningful reference.
(dance) Utilizing the body to express ideas, independent of music and costumes.
(math) Indicating an expression that is true for all real number; unconditional.
That which is independent of context-dependent interpretation, inviolate, fundamental.
Anything that is absolute.
(geometry) In a plane, the two imaginary circular points at infinity; in space of three dimensions, the imaginary circle at infinity.
(philosophy, usually capitalized) A realm which exists without reference to anything else; that which can be imagined purely by itself; absolute ego.
* 1983 , (Lawrence Durrell), Sebastian'', Faber & Faber 2004 (''Avignon Quintet ), page 1039:
(philosophy, usually capitalized) The unity of spirit and nature; God.
(philosophy, usually capitalized) The whole of reality; the totality to which everything is reduced.
Concentrated natural flower oil, used for perfumes.
(lb) To the greatest extent or degree; completely, entirely.
#With verbs, especially past participles.
#*, Book I:
#*:Thus when they had the witch disrobed quight , / And all her filthy feature open showne, / They let her goe at will, and wander wayes vnknowne.
#*2005 , Adrian Searle, The Guardian , 4 October:
#*:Nobuyoshi Araki has been called a monster, a pornographer and a genius - and the photographer quite agrees.
#With prepositional phrases and spatial adverbs.
#*1891 , (Thomas Nelson Page), On Newfound River :
#*:Margaret passed quite through the pines, and reached the opening beyond which was what was once the yard, but was now, except for a strip of flower-border and turf which showed care, simply a tangle of bushes and briars.
#*2010 , Joanna Briscoe, The Guardian , 30 October:
#*:Religion and parochial etiquette are probed to reveal unhealthy, and sometimes shockingly violent, internal desires quite at odds with the surface life of a town in which tolerance is preached.
#With predicative adjectives.
#*1914 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (The Son of Tarzan) :
#*:El Adrea was quite dead. No more will he slink silently upon his unsuspecting prey.
#*:
#*:In Lejeuneaceae vegetative branches normally originate from the basiscopic basal portion of a lateral segment half, as in the Radulaceae, and the associated leaves, therefore, are quite unmodified.
#With attributive adjectives, following an (especially indefinite) article; chiefly as expressing contrast, difference etc.
#*2003 , (Richard Dawkins), A Devil's Chaplain :
#*:When I warned him that his words might be offensive to identical twins, he said that identical twins were a quite different case.
#*2011 , Peter Preston, The Observer , 18 September:
#*:Create a new, quite separate, private company – say Murdoch Newspaper Holdings – and give it all, or most of, the papers that News Corp owns.
#Preceding nouns introduced by the indefinite article. Chiefly in negative constructions.
#*1791 , (James Boswell), (Life of Samuel Johnson) :
#*:I ventured to hint that he was not quite a fair judge, as Churchill had attacked him violently.
#*1920 , (John Galsworthy), (In Chancery) :
#*:And with a prolonged sound, not quite' a sniff and not ' quite a snort, he trod on Euphemia's toe, and went out, leaving a sensation and a faint scent of barley?sugar behind him.
#With adverbs of manner.
#*2009 , John F. Schmutz, The Battle of the Crater: A complete history :
#*:However, the proceedings were quite carefully orchestrated to produce what seemed to be a predetermined outcome.
#*2011 , Bob Burgess, The Guardian , 18 October:
#*:Higher education institutions in the UK are, quite rightly, largely autonomous.
(lb) In a fully justified sense; truly, perfectly, actually.
#Coming before the indefinite article and an attributive adjective. (Now largely merged with moderative senses, below.)
#*1898 , (Charles Gavrice), Nell of Shorne Mills :
#*:"My little plot has been rather successful, after all, hasn't it?" "Quite a perfect success," said Drake.
#*2001 , Paul Brown, The Guardian , 7 February:
#*:While the government claims to lead the world with its plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the figures tell quite a different story.
#With plain adjectives, past participles, and adverbs.
#*
#*:“My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”
#*2010 , Dave Hill, The Guardian , 5 November:
#*:London Underground is quite unique in how many front line staff it has, as anyone who has travelled on the Paris Metro or New York Subway will testify.
#Coming before the definite article and an attributive superlative.
#*1910 , ‘(Saki)’, "The Soul of Laploshka", Reginald in Russia :
#*:Laploshka was one of the meanest men I have ever met, and quite one of the most entertaining.
#*1923 , "The New Pictures", Time , 8 October:
#*:Scaramouche has already been greeted as the finest French Revolution yet brought to the screen-and even if you are a little weary of seeing a strongly American band of sans-culottes demolish a pasteboard Paris, you should not miss Scaramouche, for it is quite the best thing Rex Ingram has done since The Four Horsemen.
#Before a noun preceded by an indefinite article; now often with ironic implications that the noun in question is particularly noteworthy or remarkable.
#*1830 , Senate debate, 15 April:
#*:To debauch the Indians with rum and cheat them of their land was quite a Government affair, and not at all criminal; but to use rum to cheat them of their peltry, was an abomination in the sight of the law.
#*2011 , Gilbert Morris, The Crossing :
#*:“Looks like you and Clay had quite a party,” she said with a glimmer in her dark blue eyes.
#Before a noun preceded by the definite article.
#*1871 , (Anthony Trollope), (The Eustace Diamonds) :
#*:It is quite the proper thing for a lady to be on intimate, and even on affectionate, terms with her favourite clergyman, and Lizzie certainly had intercourse with no clergyman who was a greater favourite with her than Mr. Emilius.
#*2006 , Sherman Alexie, "When the story stolen is your own", Time , 6 February:
#*:His memoir features a child named Tommy Nothing Fancy who suffers from and dies of a seizure disorder. Quite the coincidence, don't you think?
#
To a moderate extent or degree; somewhat, rather.
As a noun absolute
is (philosophy) that which is totally unconditioned, unrestricted, pure, perfect, or complete; that which can be thought of without relation to others .As a verb quite is
.absolute
English
Alternative forms
*Adjective
(en-adj)- So absolute she seems, And in herself complete.
- Anyhow in 'anyhow, I made it home' is an absolute .
- Hungry in 'Feed the hungry.'
- Older in 'An older person should be treated with respect.
- Kill in 'If looks could kill...'
- When caught, he told an absolute lie.
- the more absolute' the ruler, the more ' absolute the revolution will be which replaces him.
- I am absolute ’t was very Cloten.
- absolute motion
- absolute time or space
- Absolute rights and duties are such as pertain to man in a state of nature as contradistinguished from ''relative'' rights and duties, or such as pertain to him in his social relations.
- To Cusa we can indeed articulately trace, word and thing, the recent philosophy of the absolute .
- The peddler stopped, and tapped her on the head, With absolute forefinger, brown and ringed.
Derived terms
* ablative absolute * absolute address * absolute curvature * absolute equation * absolute magnitude * absolute majority * absolute monarchy * absolute music * absolute pitch * absolute power * absolute space * absolute term * absolute temperature * absolute value * absolute zeroSynonyms
* categorical, unconditional, unlimited, unrestricted * (having unlimited power) autocratic, despotic * (complete in itself) fixed * (able to be viewed without relation to other things) independentAntonyms
* conditional, limited * (able to be viewed without relation to other things) relative, dependentNoun
(en noun)- moral absolutes
- Withdrawn as a Buddha he sat, watching the alien world from his perch in the absolute .