Can a native Brit explain the meaning of, "quite?"

In American English it means, "very." Based on reactions when I called our director, "quite smart," it means something like, "almost?"

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Typically means ‘somewhat’ or ‘fairly’ or ‘moderately’. Used to mean ‘very’ about a century ago

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I use this to understand what the British mean

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likefunny

It’s the opposite and the source of great confusion and danger. - American in London.

likehelpfulfunny

Rather

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Second most confusing one after “just about.”

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Yeah it’s a tough one because it’s a really nuanced saying that usually doesn’t come with the additional context.

American translation: "kind of", "somewhat", or "fairly"

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It can also typically mean “surprisingly”. So if someone says “it’s actually quite hard” they basically mean its harder than you think. Otherwise as others have said it primarily means rather, kind of, somewhat. It doesn’t mean very.

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Quite implies that it is not the full 100%. So quite smart would for a British person read as 60-70% smart. Sorry for the shit explanation.

It's nuanced by context and delivery (tone of voice) it can mean almost anything you want, positive or negative. When used in literature, it typically needs a helping hand e.g...
'"quite the smart one, isn't he" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm'

I've lived in UK for 25 years and if someone said to me “x is quite smart / pretty etc” I'd interpret it as a compliment. Obviously if someone said “x is smart but not quite smart enough” it's a different thing.

Same with “just about" - “just about made it on time" I'd interpret as it was a close call but was on time

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