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pretty Definition

pretty (prit′ē)

adjective -·tier, -·ti·est

  1. pleasing or attractive in a dainty, delicate, or graceful way rather than through striking beauty, elegance, grandeur, or stateliness
    1. fine; good; nice: often used ironically a pretty fix
    2. adroit; skillful a pretty move
  3. Archaic elegant
  4. Now Chiefly Scot. brave; bold; gallant
  5. Informal considerable; quite large a pretty price

Etymology: ME prati < OE prættig, crafty < prætt, craft, trick

adverb

  1. fairly; somewhat [pretty sure]: sometimes, by hyperbole, quite or very pretty angry
  2. -·tier, -·ti·estInformal prettily to talk pretty

noun pl. -·ties

a pretty person or thing

transitive verb -·tied, -·ty·ing

to make pretty: usually with up

pretty Related Forms
pret′·tily adverb pret′·ti·ness noun pret′·ty·ish adjective
pretty Idioms

sitting pretty

☆

Slang in a favorable position

pretty Synonyms

pretty

modif.

  1. Attractive

    attractive, comely, lovely, good-looking; see beautiful 1.

  2. Pleasant

    delightful, cheerful, pleasing; see pleasant 2.

  3. *Considerable

    ample, sizeable, notable; see large 1, much 1, 2.

  4. Somewhat

    rather, tolerably, a little; see moderately.

sitting pretty*

in a favorable position, prospering, thriving; see successful. See syn. study at beautiful.

pretty Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • village: The mornings ride was quite blissful, cycling through pretty villages in warm sunshine on long, quiet roads.
  • penny: In the basement of the house, which must have cost the set designers a pretty penny, ghosts are locked in glass cells.
  • girl: Rather a pretty girl returned to her flat opposite St Dennis Lane.
  • sight: THE funding of political campaigns is seldom a pretty sight.
  • cottage: Hostels range in size and comfort - from former shooting lodges to pretty village cottages and Victorian mansions.
  • garden: Lanes lined with old cob cottages and pretty gardens wind off the main street.

Modifying Another Word

  • impossibly: Chipping Campden is another impossibly pretty place with lots of nice little shops, tea-rooms and pubs to while away an hour or two.
  • very: This is a very pretty display piece for your antique chic or vintage chic interior.
  • really: Best Friends - This is a really pretty blend of fruity florals.
  • little: Plus you may notice this is a little prettier than Hollywood Boulevard.
  • also: K das contributor Yea, Van Helsing looks like CG overload but also pretty fun.
  • not: But often they're not pretty paintings, even tho that might be the first impression.

Used with adjective complement

  • look: This looks prettier, but is no easier to use than the previous system.
pretty Quotes

That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where you are.

—Salinger,J(erome) D(avid)

Laissons les jolies femmes aux hommes sans imagination. Leave the pretty women for the men without imagination.

—Proust, Marcel

Her occasional pretty and picturesque use of dialect wordsöthose terrible marks of the beast to the truly genteel.

—Hardy,Thomas

It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression'as prettyas an airport'.

—Adams, Douglas Noe«  l

   When the flush of a new-born sun fell first on Eden's green and gold, Our father Adamsat under theTree and scratched with a stick in the mould; And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart, Till the Devilwhispered behind theleaves,'It'spretty, but is it Art?'

—Kipling, (Joseph) Rudyard

Manners are especially the need of the plain. The pretty can get away with anything.

—Waugh, Evelyn Arthur StJohn

But it is pretty to see what money will do.

—Pepys, Samuel

it's a sex object if you're pretty and no love or love and no sex if you're fat

—Giovanni,Nikki in full Yolande CorneliaGiovanni,Jr

If all the world and love were young, And truth in every shepherd's tongue These pretty pleasures might me move To live with thee and be thy love. See Marlowe 553:17.

—Raleigh, Sir Walter

   Friends love misery, in fact. Sometimes, especially if we aretooluckyor toosuccessfulor toopretty, ourmisery is the only thing that endears us to our friends.

—Jong, Erica ne¤  e Mann

Whether you are pretty or not, I outlive you, bend down my strange face to yours and forgive you.

—Sexton, Anne ne¤  e Harvey

  Why shouldn't art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world.

—Renoir, Pierre Auguste