Definition:
The semantic property of an adjective that identifies different levels or degrees of the quality it denotes. An adjective that is gradable (or scalar) can be used in the comparative or superlative forms, or with words such as very, fairly, rather, and less. See also: absolute adjective.
Etymology
From the Latin, "degree, rank"Examples and Observations
- George: You're gonna over-dry your laundry.
Jerry: You can't over-dry.
George Costanza: Why not?
Jerry: Same reason you can't over-wet. You see, when something's wet, it's wet. Same thing with death. Like, once you die, you're dead. Let's say you drop dead and I shoot you. You're not gonna die again, you're already dead. You can't over-die, you can't over-dry.
(Seinfeld) - "Gradable/Non-gradable
Adjectives fall into these two subclasses according to two criteria: (1) whether the adjective can have a 'comparative' and a 'superlative' form; (2) whether the adjective can be modified by an intensifying adverb (e.g., very). For example, big is a gradable adjective: it can form a comparative (bigger) and a superlative (biggest); and it can be modified by an intensifier (very big). On the other hand, the adjective wooden (i.e., 'made of wood') is non-gradable; it fulfills none of the criteria."
(Howard Jackson, Grammar and Vocabulary. Routledge, 2002) - "Adjectives are often considered to be the prototypical example of a 'gradable' category. Degree expressions such as too are restricted to adjectives and morphological comparatives . . .. This has led several linguists to conclude that gradability is a distinctive property of adjectives . . ., while others rather insist on the fact that gradability is found across categories."
(Jenny Doetjes, "Adjectives and Degree Modification," in Adjectives and Adverbs: Syntax, Semantics, and Discourse, ed. L. McNally and C. Kennedy. Oxford Univ. Press, 2008)
