I think the term you're looking for is "very few." "There were very few people at the party" = not many people came to the party "There were quite a few people at the party" = a lot of people came to the party Technically, I suppose you could say "quite few" (leaving out the "a"), and it would mean the same thing as "very few." Most people would never say "quite few," though, simply because it sounds too much like "quite a few," which has the opposite meaning. As Bill says, you can't use "quite a few" to mean "only a few." It always means "a fairly large number" or "more than expected."

The reason is because "few" (and also "little") has dual meaning of a sort. When it's used by itself (i.e. "few"), it means "almost none", but if you say "A few", it means "some (small number)" as opposed to none . The former stresses the negative aspect of "none" (non-existent), while the latter stresses the positiveness of "some"(existing). "quite" acts as an intensifier, so if you intensify the positive meaning of "a few", you get "many". That is why you should always say "quite a few" and never "quite few" to mean "many". "very few" similarly intensifies the negative "few" (no "a"), to mean almost nothing. The opposites, "quite few" and "very a few" are not used because they can be confusing. The above also means that you should be mindful of whether to include "a" or not before "few" or "little", as it can change the meaning (there are a lot of sloppy uses out there). For example, compare: 1. I have a few friends = I do have friends, even though the number is small. 2. I have few friends = I have practically no friends. The two sentences mean nearly the opposite things, so "a" is not optional.

Quite can mean more than expected, or completely or exactly when agreeing. "Quite a few" cannot mean less than expected you would use "only a few" if you want to mean less.