rather hot and rather expensive

[Winwin2011]

rather adv. a little, somewhat, or very:

Heinle's Newbury House Dictionary of American English

Rather can mean a little or very.

1. The weather is rather hot today. (Does it mean very hot or a little hot?)
2. This book is rather expensive. (Does it mean very expensive or a little expensive)
3. It's kind of cold in here. (Does it mean very cold or a little cold)


Thanks.

 

[Rover_KE]

How did 'kind of' get in there?

They can mean whichever you want them to mean.

If you want to be more precise, don't use 'rather'.

 

[billmcd]

How did 'kind of' get in there?

They can mean whichever you want them to mean.

If you want to be more precise, don't use 'rather'.

"Kind of" in AmE could be heard/written to replace "rather", but would be most often used/understood to mean "a little" or "somewhat".

 

[MikeNewYork]

Words such as rather, somewhat, kind of, quite, pretty, very, etc. are degree modifiers. They modify an adjective as to degree. They are, by their nature, imprecise and have different meanings for different people.

People will argue about which ones are greater than others. But, in general, rather, somewhat, and pretty, mean that the adjective is true, but not the most. Very and extremely are usually greater, and kind of is usually less. Quite varies by culture and circumstance.