QUITE AN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does quite an mean? 

• QUITE AN (adverb)
  The adverb QUITE AN has 1 sense:

1. of an unusually noticeable or exceptional or remarkable kind (not used with a negative)

  Familiarity information: QUITE AN used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• QUITE AN (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of an unusually noticeable or exceptional or remarkable kind (not used with a negative)

Synonyms:

quite; quite a; quite an

Context example:

we've had quite an afternoon

 Context examples 

I am quite an Infidel about it, and shall never be converted.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

You will have quite an exciting start to the year.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

As I am happily quite an altered creature in one respect, it is very fit that you should have the satisfaction of knowing it.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Mrs. Palmer laughed heartily at the recollection of their astonishment, and every body agreed, two or three times over, that it had been quite an agreeable surprise.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Jane will be quite an old maid soon, I declare.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

And then, as Morgan rolled back to his seat, Silver added to me in a confidential whisper that was very flattering, as I thought, He's quite an honest man, Tom Morgan, on'y stupid.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

But this was quite an old set, purchased two years ago.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

She will make quite an angel of him, and he will make life delightfully easy and pleasant for the dear, if they only love each other.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

"These hydrocarbons rain down on the surface, flow in streams and rivers, accumulate in lakes and seas, and evaporate into the atmosphere. It's quite an astounding world!"

(The First Global Geologic Map of Titan Completed, NASA)

The approach of sunset was so very beautiful, so grand in its masses of splendidly-coloured clouds, that there was quite an assemblage on the walk along the cliff in the old churchyard to enjoy the beauty.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)