I. qual ‧ i ‧ ty 1 S1 W1 /ˈkwɒləti, ˈkwɒlɪti $ ˈkwɑː-/ BrE AmE noun ( plural qualities )
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: qualité , from Latin qualitas , from qualis 'of what kind' ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] how good or bad something is:
Much of the land was of poor quality.
Use only high quality ingredients.
quality of
The quality of the water is reasonably good.
2 . [countable usually plural] something that people may have as part of their character, for example courage or intelligence ⇨ characteristic :
He shows strong leadership qualities.
the personal qualities necessary to be a successful salesman
quality of
the qualities of honesty and independence
3 . [countable] something that is typical of one thing and makes it different from other things, for example size, colour etc:
the drug’s addictive quality
quality of
the physical and chemical qualities of the rock
4 . [uncountable] a high standard:
his pride in the quality of his craftsmanship
wines of quality
5 . quality of life how good or bad your life is, shown for example by whether or not you are happy, healthy, able to do what you want etc:
drugs that improve the quality of life for very ill patients
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COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + quality
▪ good/high
I was impressed that the quality of their work was so high.
▪ poor/low
The magazine is printed on low quality paper.
▪ excellent/outstanding
The T-shirts are only $10 and the quality is excellent.
▪ superior formal (=good or better quality)
These speakers offer superior quality sound.
▪ top quality
Our chef uses only top quality ingredients.
▪ water/air quality
Scientists took samples to test the water quality.
▪ sound quality
I apologise for the poor sound quality of this recording.
▪ picture quality ( also image quality )
Does this type of TV set have a better picture quality?
■ verbs
▪ improve/enhance the quality
The measures will improve the quality of the water in the river.
▪ affect the quality
Lack of sleep started to affect the quality of his work.
▪ test/check/monitor the quality
The equipment is used to monitor the city’s air quality.
▪ maintain the quality
Staffing problems made it difficult to maintain the quality of the service.
▪ the quality goes up/down
I think the quality has gone down over the years.
▪ the quality suffers (=it is badly affected by something)
The picture quality suffers if the signal isn’t digital.
■ quality + NOUN
▪ quality standards
Greater investment is needed to meet the European Union’s strict quality standards.
■ COMMON ERRORS
► Do not say ' living quality ' or ' life quality '. Say quality of life .
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THESAURUS
▪ characteristic something that is typical of someone or something and makes them easy to recognize:
He had several characteristics which made him different to the rest of his family.
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the physical characteristics of the brain
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He studied the special characteristics of adult speech addressed to children.
▪ quality a characteristic of a person, especially a good one such as kindness or intelligence:
Tina has a lot of good qualities.
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I’m not sure about his leadership qualities.
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Obedience is a quality that my father admires.
▪ feature an important or interesting characteristic of something:
it seems to be a feature of modern society that we tend to judge ourselves by our work above everything else.
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A curious feature of the novel is the absence of women.
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The building still has many of its original features.
▪ property [usually plural] technical a characteristic of a substance or object, for example hardness or elasticity, or how it behaves - used especially in scientific contexts:
We examined the physical properties of various metals.
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changes in the electrical properties of cells
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Some plants have healing properties.
▪ attribute formal a good or useful characteristic:
I suspected I probably did not quite possess all the attributes required to succeed at the highest level.
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All living things are able to reproduce their kind, an attribute which no machine possesses..
▪ good/bad points good or bad characteristics – used when someone or something has both good and bad characteristics:
The seller will obviously emphasize the car’s good points.
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Draw up a list of your partner’s good and bad points.
II. quality 2 BrE AmE adjective [only before noun]
1 . [no comparative] very good – used especially by people who are trying to sell something:
quality child-care at prices people can afford
quality double glazing
2 . quality newspapers/press etc British English newspapers etc intended for educated readers