qualitative

[kwol-i-tey-tiv]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR qualitative ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

pertaining to or concerned with quality or qualities.

Origin of qualitative

1600–10; < Late Latin quālitātīvus, equivalent to quālitāt- (stem of quālitās) quality + -īvus -ive

Related formsqual·i·ta·tive·ly, adverbnon·qual·i·ta·tive, adjectivenon·qual·i·ta·tive·ly, adverb

Can be confusedqualitative quantitative

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for qualitative

subjective, approximate, conditional, dependent, partial

Examples from the Web for qualitative

Contemporary Examples of qualitative

For us, there was a big kind of qualitative leap on this record.
Chromeo’s Dave 1 on ‘White Women’ and Bringing Back the Funk
Melissa Leon
May 12, 2014
The approach she takes in her book is what is known in psychological research as a “qualitative” study.
Generation Rx? Review of ‘Dosed: The Medication Generation Grows Up’
Casey Schwartz
April 15, 2012
The Pentagon and CIA work constantly with their Israeli counterparts to ensure Israel's qualitative edge.
The Israeli Anti-Attack-Iran Brigade
Bruce Riedel
November 7, 2011
Preserving that qualitative edge enjoys broad bipartisan support in the United States.
Iran Blusters but Israel Has the Edge
Bruce Riedel
September 28, 2011

Historical Examples of qualitative

Cases of complete anosmia and qualitative obtuseness are not uncommon.
Criminal Man
Gina Lombroso-Ferrero
It has always been known that there is qualitative relation.
Mind and Motion and Monism
George John Romanes
Labor, Marx pointed out, has two sides, the qualitative and the quantitative.
Socialism
John Spargo
That this is only quantitative, not qualitative, he has already shown.
Evolution in Modern Thought
Ernst Haeckel
The infinity of God is not a quantitative, but a qualitative infinity.
Christianity and Greek Philosophy
Benjamin Franklin Cocker

British Dictionary definitions for qualitative

qualitative

adjective

involving or relating to distinctions based on quality or qualitiesCompare quantitative

Derived Formsqualitatively, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for qualitative

adj.

early 15c., "that produces a (physical) quality," from Medieval Latin qualitativus "relating to quality," from stem of Latin qualitas "a quality, property, nature" (see quality). Meaning "concerned with quality" is from c.1600 in English, from French qualitatif or Medieval Latin qualitativus. Related: Qualitatively.