pretty

1 of 4

adjective

pret·​ty ˈpri-tē  ˈpər- 

 also  ˈpru̇-

prettier; prettiest

1

a

: artful, clever

b

: pat, apt

2

a

: pleasing by delicacy or grace

b

: having conventionally accepted elements of beauty

c

: appearing or sounding pleasant or nice but lacking strength, force, manliness, purpose, or intensity

pretty words that make no sense

—Elizabeth B. Browning

3

a

: miserable, terrible

a pretty mess you've gotten us into

b

chiefly Scotland : stout

4

: moderately large : considerable

a very pretty profit

cost a pretty penny

5

: easy to enjoy : pleasant

—usually used in negative constructions

reality is not so pretty

—Caleb Solomon

prettily

ˈpri-tə-lē 

ˈpər-

 also  ˈpru̇-

adverb

prettyish

ˈpri-tē-ish 

ˈpər-

 also  ˈpru̇-

adjective

pretty

2 of 4

adverb

pret·​ty ˈpri-tē  ˈpər- 

 also  ˈpru̇-;

 before "near(ly)" often  ˈpərt,

 or  ˈprit,

 or  ˈpru̇t

1

a

: in some degree : moderately

pretty cold weather

b

: quite, mainly

the wound was … pretty bad

—Walt Whitman

2

: in a gracefully pleasing manner : prettily

pop vocalists who can sing pretty

—Gerald Levitch

Using Pretty as an Adverb: Usage Guide

Some handbooks complain that pretty is overworked and recommend the selection of a more specific word or advise that pretty should be restricted to informal or colloquial contexts. Pretty is used to tone down a statement and is in wide use across the whole spectrum of English. It is common in informal speech and writing but is neither rare nor wrong in serious discourse

he may, if he be pretty well off or clever, qualify himself as a doctor

—G. B. Shaw

a return to those traditions of American foreign policy which worked pretty well for over a century

—H. S. Commager

the arguments for buying expensive books have to be pretty cogent

—The Times Literary Supplement (London)

pretty

3 of 4

noun

pret·​ty ˈpri-tē  ˈpər- 

 also  ˈpru̇-

plural pretties

1

pretties plural : dainty clothes

especially : lingerie

2

: a pretty person or thing

pretty

4 of 4

verb

pret·​ty ˈpri-tē  ˈpər- 

 also  ˈpru̇-

prettied; prettying

transitive verb

: to make pretty

—usually used with up

curtains to pretty up the room

Phrases

pretty much

: mainly, largely

Synonyms

Adjective

• agreeable
• blessed
• blest
• congenial
• darling
• delectable
• delicious
• delightful
• delightsome
• dreamy
• dulcet
• enjoyable
• felicitous
• good
• grateful
• gratifying
• heavenly
• jolly
• luscious
• nice
• palatable
• pleasant
• pleasing
• pleasurable
• satisfying
• savory
• savoury
• sweet
• tasty
• welcome

Adverb

• enough
• fairly
• kind of
• kindly [chiefly Southern]
• like
• moderately
• more or less
• quite
• rather
• relatively
• something
• somewhat
• sort of

Verb

• adorn
• array
• beautify
• bedeck
• bedizen
• blazon
• caparison
• deck
• decorate
• do
• do up
• doll up
• drape
• dress
• embellish
• emblaze
• emboss
• enrich
• fancify
• fancy up
• festoon
• garnish
• glitz (up)
• grace
• gussy up
• ornament
• trim

Choose the Right Synonym for pretty

beautiful, lovely, handsome, pretty, comely, fair mean exciting sensuous or aesthetic pleasure.

beautiful applies to whatever excites the keenest of pleasure to the senses and stirs emotion through the senses.

beautiful mountain scenery

lovely is close to beautiful but applies to a narrower range of emotional excitation in suggesting the graceful, delicate, or exquisite.

a lovely melody

handsome suggests aesthetic pleasure due to proportion, symmetry, or elegance.

a handsome Georgian mansion

pretty often applies to superficial or insubstantial attractiveness.

a painter of conventionally pretty scenes

comely is like handsome in suggesting what is coolly approved rather than emotionally responded to.

the comely grace of a dancer

fair suggests beauty because of purity, flawlessness, or freshness.

fair of face

Examples of pretty in a Sentence

Adjective

This white shape stood apart by the hedge alone. From her position he knew it to be the pretty maiden with whom he had not danced. Trifling as the matter was, he yet instinctively felt that she was hurt by his oversight. —Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, 1891

Darcy, on the contrary, had seen a collection of people in whom there was little beauty and no fashion, for none of whom he had felt the smallest interest, and from none received either attention or pleasure. Miss Bennet he acknowledged to be pretty, but she smiled too much. —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1813

He made a pretty profit selling his antique car.

She received a pretty sum of money.

Adverb

By taunting the police, beating drums and throwing rocks, the rioters make it pretty clear that they want not a rational debate but the world's attention … —Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek, 30 Apr. 2001

… I could pretty much go wherever I felt a story led … —Roy Blount, Jr., New York Times Book Review, 9 Mar. 1986

… regards most of us as pretty irrevocably plunged in illusion. —Iris Murdoch, The Fire and the Sun, 1977

The reflected radiance served to show, pretty distinctly, the aspect and arrangement of the room which Hepzibah entered, after descending the stairs. —Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of Seven Gables, 1851

“Did you put the keys on the table?” “I'm pretty sure I did.”

The teams are pretty equally matched.

The work is pretty hard.

I have to leave pretty soon.

The movie was pretty good but not great.

They've accomplished some pretty amazing things.

She was driving pretty fast.

Verb

She prettied the cake with icing, sprinkles, and nuts.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Despite pretty snowy scenes featured in movies and Christmas cards, not everyone welcomes it. —Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2024

Cookie Break An easy icing technique gives classic sugar cookies a marbled finish in pretty pastels. —Amy Panos, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Dec. 2024

Adverb

With three more games remaining, against Borussia Dortmund, Benfica and Atalanta, Barca can guarantee itself a further $6.6 million (€6.3 million), while a lump sum of $11.5 million (€11 million) is also pretty much in the bag for advancing to the last 16 barring any major slip ups. —Tom Sanderson, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024

That professed confidence in each’s own instincts and indifference to most dissident opinions is how both led the country and made some pretty colossal missteps. —Philip Elliott, TIME, 11 Dec. 2024

Noun

Aimée and Trintignant are movie-star pretty, but Lelouch’s style gives them both a weighty humanity, as do their performances. —Carmel Dagan, Variety, 18 June 2024

Wise is the new pretty. —Susan Dunne, courant.com, 28 Sep. 2020

Verb

The sweater — no, sweatshirt — er, hybrid of the two — had a mock neck-like detail that prettied up the look more than a casual hoodie would have. —Alyssa Grabinski, People.com, 21 Oct. 2024

In 2024, small business AI utilization is mostly allowing a smattering of employees to try out a few apps to pretty up their profile photo, review a contract or transcribe an online meeting. —Gene Marks, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Adjective, Adverb, Noun, and Verb

Middle English praty, prety, from Old English prættig tricky, from prætt trick; akin to Old Norse prettr trick

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adverb

1565, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

1616, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb

1863, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing pretty

• a pretty penny
• (as) pretty as a picture
• more than just a pretty face
• not a pretty sight
• not just a/another pretty face
• pretty boy
• pretty much
• pretty near/nearly
• pretty well
• sit pretty

Kids Definition

pretty

1 of 3 adjective

pret·​ty ˈprit-ē  ˈpu̇rt- 

prettier; prettiest

: delicately or gracefully attractive to the eye or ear

a pretty face

pretty tunes

prettily

ˈprit-ᵊl-ē 

ˈpu̇rt-

adverb

prettiness

ˈprit-ē-nəs

ˈpu̇rt-

noun

pretty

2 of 3 adverb

pret·​ty ˈprit-ē  pərt-ē 

: in some degree : fairly, moderately

pretty big

was pretty much ignored

pretty

3 of 3 noun

 like ¹ 

plural pretties

: a pretty person or thing