qualitative

C2 Topic:Describing People
US /ˈkwɑ.ləˌteɪ.tɪv/ UK /ˈkwɒl.ɪ.tə.tɪv/
adj noun Freq #91001

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    Based on the qualities or nature of something rather than on numbers or amounts.

    The study used interviews to gather qualitative data about people's feelings.

  2. 2
    adj

    Involving a change in kind or character rather than in quantity.

    Moving abroad brought a qualitative change in the way she saw the world.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adj · based on the qualities or... nonquantitative
Word family
Derived forms nonqualitativepseudoqualitativequalitativelyqualitativenessqualitativistsemiqualitativeunqualitative
Related forms quality

Etymology

From Late Latin (or Medieval Latin) quālitātīvus. Equivalent to quality + -ative.

Topics

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