'Ever so' definitions:
Definition of 'ever so'
From: WordNet
adverb
(intensifier for adjectives) very; "she was ever so friendly" [syn: ever, ever so]
Definition of 'Ever so'
From: GCIDE
- Ever \Ev"er\adv. [OE. ever, [ae]fre, AS. [ae]fre; perh. akin to AS. [=a] always. Cf. Aye, Age,Evry, Never.] [Sometimes contracted into e'er.]
- 1. At any time; at any period or point of time. [1913 Webster]
- No man ever yet hated his own flesh. --Eph. v. 29. [1913 Webster]
- 2. At all times; through all time; always; forever. [1913 Webster]
- He shall ever love, and always be The subject of by scorn and cruelty. --Dryder. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Without cessation; continually. [1913 Webster]
- Note: Ever is sometimes used as an intensive or a word of enforcement. "His the old man e'er a son?" --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- To produce as much as ever they can. --M. Arnold. [1913 Webster]
- Ever and anon, now and then; often. See under Anon.
- Ever is one, continually; constantly. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
- Ever so, in whatever degree; to whatever extent; -- used to intensify indefinitely the meaning of the associated adjective or adverb. See Never so, under Never. "Let him be ever so rich." --Emerson. [1913 Webster]
- And all the question (wrangle e'er so long), Is only this, if God has placed him wrong. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
- You spend ever so much money in entertaining your equals and betters. --Thackeray.
- For ever, eternally. See Forever.
- For ever and a day, emphatically forever. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- She [Fortune] soon wheeled away, with scornful laughter, out of sight for ever and day. --Prof. Wilson.
- Or ever (for or ere), before. See Or, ere. [Archaic] [1913 Webster]
- Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio! --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Note: Ever is sometimes joined to its adjective by a hyphen, but in most cases the hyphen is needless; as, ever memorable, ever watchful, ever burning. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'ever so'
From: GCIDE
- Never \Nev"er\ (n[e^]v"[~e]r), adv. [AS. n[=ae]fre; ne not, no + [=ae]fre ever.]
- 1. Not ever; not at any time; at no time, whether past, present, or future. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Death still draws nearer, never seeming near. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
- 2. In no degree; not in the least; not. [1913 Webster]
- Whosoever has a friend to guide him, may carry his eyes in another man's head, and yet see never the worse. --South. [1913 Webster]
- And he answered him to never a word. --Matt. xxvii. 14. [1913 Webster]
- Note: Never is much used in composition with present participles to form adjectives, as in never-ceasing, never-dying, never-ending, never-fading, never-failing, etc., retaining its usual signification. [1913 Webster]
- Never a deal, not a bit. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
- Never so, as never before; more than at any other time, or in any other circumstances; especially; particularly; -- now often expressed or replaced by ever so.
- Ask me never so much dower and gift. --Gen. xxxiv. 12.
- A fear of battery, . . . though never so well grounded, is no duress. --Blackstone. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'ever so'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- a deal,
- a fortiori,
- a great deal,
- a lot,
- above all,
- abundantly,
- all the more,
- as all creation,
- as all get-out,
- beaucoup,
- chiefly,
- considerable,
- considerably,
- dominantly,
- especially,
- even,
- ever so much,
- first of all,
- galore,
- greatly,
- highly,
- in chief,
- in great measure,
- in the main,
- indeed,
- largely,
- mainly,
- more than ever,
- mostly,
- much,
- muchly,
- never so,
- no end,
- no end of,
- not a little,
- particularly,
- peculiarly,
- plenty,
- predominantly,
- pretty much,
- primarily,
- principally,
- so,
- so very much,
- still more,
- to the skies,
- very much,
- yea