He is kind of cute.
He is cute.He is kind of handsome.
He is handsome.
Do I need to use "kind of" or can I discard.
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4You don't need to use "kind of", but it changes the meaning of the sentence a little. Did you look up the meaning of "kind of"?– stangdonCommented Jul 11, 2016 at 17:49
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@stangdon - it kind of changes the meaning a little ;-) I think that bit about "often used as a meaningless filler" makes this a fair question for a learner.– J.R. ♦Commented Jul 11, 2016 at 19:40
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1 Answer
Inserting "kind of" into a sentence changes its meaning. Using or not using it depends on the intended meaning of the sentence. If you simply omit (discard) "kind of" you are stating an opinion that "he is handsome" or "he is cute" without qualification.
If you include "kind of", the meaning is modified depending on intent and context. Kind of" can denote
- Imprecision.
Short dictionary explanations of "kind of" define it as meaning "to some extent". For example from the Free Dictionary: informal useage of the idiom "kind of" means "somewhat" or "rather". Plausible Deniability, as for example in
She: I think he's kind of cute.
could actually mean "I think he's cute, but I'm not saying how much. You can't use this statement to tease me about it. Or, if you tell him I said this, I can deny it was of importance to me, if I want to." The implication that "you can't quote me" is not uncommon in film and on television.
Understatement.
Using "kind of" could also indicate making a deliberate understatement:She: He is kind of handsome.
agreement: Rather
where the verb "is" was stressed in the initial statement, and the reply stressed to indicate agreement with it. The agreed text is that he is quite handsome. The last usage example from the urban DICTIONARY is about understatement.
