Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
You use ~ to indicate that something is the case to a fairly great extent. Quite is less emphatic than ‘very’ and ‘extremely’.
I felt ~ bitter about it at the time...
Well, actually it requires ~ a bit of work and research...
I was ~ a long way away, on the terrace...
ADV: ADV adj/adv, ADV a n, ADV before v vagueness
2.
You use ~ to emphasize what you are saying.
It is ~ clear that we were firing in self defence...
That’s a general British failing. In the USA it’s ~ different...
ADV: ADV group, ADV before v emphasis
3.
You use ~ after a negative to make what you are saying weaker or less definite.
Something here is not ~ right...
After treatment he was able to continue but he was never ~ the same...
ADV: with brd-neg, ADV group, ADV before v vagueness
4.
You use ~ in front of a noun group to emphasize that a person or thing is very impressive or unusual.
‘Oh, he’s ~ a character,’ Sean replied...
It’s ~ a city, Boston.
PREDET: PREDET a n approval
5.
You can say ‘~’ to express your agreement with someone. (SPOKEN)
‘And if you buy the record it’s your choice isn’t it.’—‘Quite’...
ADV: ADV as reply formulae