What does かなり actually mean?


I'm attempting to learn some basic Japanese vocabulary through a set of Anki
flash cards, but one of the cards has the word かなり on it. The definition
provided says "fairly, rather." This implies to me that it shows something to
be of a lesser degree. For example, if I am fairly certain of something, I am
not certain of it, but believe myself to be correct. On the other hand,
Wiktionary define かなり as "quite." This seems much stronger than "fairly" or
"rather." At least as I use it, "quite" implies a very high degree. If I am
quite certain of something, there is little to no doubt in my mind. If someone
asks me if I am certain of something, I would not hesitate to confirm by
saying "Yes, I am quite certain." Tagaini Jisho suggests a definition of
"Considerably, fairly, quite." Sadly, I find each of these words to be
different. "Quite" seems stronger than "considerably," which seems much
stronger than fairly.

Given all of this, I am left confused as to what かなり actually means. Can
someone explain it to me?




I think your flashcard set and the WWWJDIC define かなり as "considerably,
[fairly](http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/fairly),
quite", because _in usage_ this is exactly how かなり behaves. However, I think
you have a fair question and the answer is that _in meaning_ かなり is closest to
"[quite](http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/quite)"
in the sense of strengthening an assertion.

Once you can read some Japanese, this is best checked in a monolingual
dictionary, like 大辞林

> **かなり** 【可成り・可也】  
>  1. （副） 〔連語「可なり」からできた語〕 普通に **予想されるより数量・程度がはなはだしい** さま。相当。 「–うまくいった」 「–の損害」

where the bolded part translates to "extent/quantity (much) greater than
expected". (And here the keyword is of course "expected", a nuance that is not
present in "quite".)




I think your flashcard set and the WWWJDIC define かなり as "considerably,
[fairly](http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/fairly),
quite", because _in usage_ this is exactly how かなり behaves. However, I think
you have a fair question and the answer is that _in meaning_ かなり is closest to
"[quite](http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/quite)"
in the sense of strengthening an assertion.

Once you can read some Japanese, this is best checked in a monolingual
dictionary, like 大辞林

> **かなり** 【可成り・可也】  
>  1. （副） 〔連語「可なり」からできた語〕 普通に **予想されるより数量・程度がはなはだしい** さま。相当。 「–うまくいった」 「–の損害」

where the bolded part translates to "extent/quantity (much) greater than
expected". (And here the keyword is of course "expected", a nuance that is not
present in "quite".)

