'quite' is the trickiest word in english

This is possibly one of the most confusing words in the English language.

For example:

If your American boss says your work is quite good, should you be pleased or a little concerned? In British English quite good only means pretty good or fairly good, but in American English it’s much more positive. Quite good means very good, so you can give yourself a pat on the back.

The trickiest word in American | Macmillan Dictionary Blog

Here's quite a good video:

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The trickiest word in English - Quite! - YouTube

The BBC helps a little - with the British way of looking at it:

In British English, quite has two different meanings. It does mean completely or entirely, but it also means fairly or rather.

quite = completely

When it is used for emphasis with adjectives that cannot be graded, quite means completely. The colour adjective black, for example cannot be graded. Things can't be more black or less black. They are just black. So, if we put this into context and look at some more examples of quite with ungradable adjectives, we may find:

• There's no trace of red in her hair - it's quite black.
• I see no hope - the future looks quite black to me.
• It's quite impossible to learn twenty new items of vocabulary each day.
• His performance on stage was quite amazing - we were just spellbound for three hours!
• Are you quite sure? I think you're quite wrong about this.

quite = fairly / rather

If we are using quite with an adjective that is gradable, it means fairly or rather. The adjective easy, for example, is gradable. Things can be easier or harder. Thus, quite, when used with easy, means fairly or rather. Study these examples:

• How did you find the maths test? ~ Oh, it was quite easy, really. / It was quite difficult.
• What did you think of the cabaret? ~ Oh, it was quite entertaining.
• I'm quite tired but I'll try and finish this book review before I go to bed.

Learning English | BBC World Service

With quite a good guide here - again from the BBC:

4 uses of quite - English In A Minute - YouTube

But it's also a question of STRESS!

And here's a question on the WordReference forum:

FilleDuMonde:

Hello everybody,
I remember quite to be a strange adverb because the sentence changes its meaning according to where the stress in the sentence is. One meaning should be sufficiently and the other completely. Which is which? Bolded words are the stressed words in each phrase.
My brother is quite intelligent.
My brother is quite intelligent.
Thank you all!

entangledbank:

The stress may make some difference to the meaning: the second one, with the adjective stressed, sounds stronger to me, more positive. He is intelligent, and to a reasonably high degree. The first sounds a bit more limited: he is intelligent, to some moderate degree, but perhaps no more, not hugely intelligent.

quite (different sentence stress -> different meaning) | WordReference Forums

And here's another example:

Is it true that the meaning of the word "quite" depends on how we stress it in speech? As I now when we stress "quite" the meaning is negative and when stress an adjective the meaning is positive. For example: I get up QUITE early (fairly early but not very) I get up quite EARLY (very early) Is that true? | HiNative

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