Intensifiers or synonyms to “very”

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Quite
Quite is a universal replacement for very. It collocates with virtually any adverb and
adjective. There is a catch though — the meaning of this word is different in American
and British English. Quite in British English means “somewhat, to some
extent” while American English quite means “very”.
Examples: These biscuits are quite tasty — you should give them a try. We were quite thrilled
to hear the teacher’s speech

Really and extremely

Extremely is the strongest of all intensifiers. It is also somewhat formal, so it is more
often to be found in letters and texts rather than speech.
Examples: It was extremely careless of you to leave the door opened. She is usually extremely
rude to everyone

Really is quite strong too. It is fairly informal, occurring in everyday speech. If you use it,
then you mean that something was considerably more intensive than usually, you put
great emphasis on it.
Examples: He is really good at singing (He is a much better singer than many others). They
stayed at this really expensive hotel (The hotel was considerably more expensive than
other places)

Fairly, somewhat
These “intensifiers” actually serve the opposite function – they weaken the word that
follows. They show that the quality is present but limited.
Examples: He is fairly good at football (He isn’t too good, probably below average). He is
somewhat famous in this part of the country (He is famous, but not so much)

Absolutely, totally
Both are nice alternatives to very. The difference is that they are used with words that
have “extreme” meaning — words that already mean the highest degree of something:
He is a very smart boy. But: She is absolutely brilliant. Word brilliant is “extreme” so you
cannot say very brilliant.
More examples: It was absolutely ridiculous of John to bring that up. They had spent the
night in an absolutely gorgeous place

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