qualitative

[ kwol-i-tey-tiv ]

adjective

1. pertaining to or concerned with quality or qualities.

qualitative

/ ˈkwɒlɪtətɪv; -ˌteɪ- /

adjective

1. involving or relating to distinctions based on quality or qualities Compare quantitative

Derived Forms

• ˈqualitatively, adverb

Other Words From

• qual·i·ta·tive·ly adverb
• non·qual·i·ta·tive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of qualitative¹

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

Example Sentences

“I felt for this woman and how she must have felt so much anxiety and fear from having CPS at her door and not understanding why,” said Dr. Kara Skelton, a researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who spoke to the woman for a qualitative study on pregnant people’s experience with drug screening published in September.

From Salon

“There are statistics but there was no qualitative research. No one had written the history of caste through the vantage point of Dalit women, so I decided that I wanted to do this work.”

From BBC

But Prof Larner said the university's strategy was about "qualitative change, not just quantitative change" which would involve developing new sources of income and different ways of delivering courses.

From BBC

He highlighted that the theme of World Food Day — "the right to food for a better life and a better future" — is a priority that "satisfies one of the basic needs of human beings: to feed oneself in accordance with adequate qualitative and quantitative standards."

From Salon

As MSNBC’s Steve Benen correctly observed, ”There is… a qualitative difference between whining about fact-checking and publicly raising the idea of using governmental power to strip a major American outlet of its broadcasting license.”

From Salon