1. pertaining to quality, pertaining to characteristics. qualitativequali*ta*tive , a. [cf. ll. gualitativus, f. qualitatif.] relating to quality; having the character of quality. -- quali*ta*tive*ly , adv.qualitative analysis (chem.), analysis which merely determines the constituents of a substance without any regard to the quantity of each ingredient; -- contrasted with quantitative analysis.qualitative adj