pretty
//ˈpɹɪt.i//
informalForms
- Comparative
- prettier
- Superlative
- prettiest
- Plural
- pretties
- present (v1)
- pretty
- past (v2)
- prettied
- past participle (v3)
- prettied
- present participle
- prettying
- 3rd person singular
- pretties
Definitions
1.Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
- Mary is a very pretty girl.
2.Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing.
- Some fans may have mistaken the album’s floatiness for aimlessness, but Mr. Mercer’s songs have never been sneakier, or prettier.
- 'Petit Posy' brassicas […] are a cross between kale and brussels sprouts, and are really very pretty with a mild, sweet taste.
3.Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty.
- Damned by the Socialists as "traitors to the working class," its leaders were decried by Tories as "faceless peddlers of politics with a pretty little trinket for every taste."
4.Effeminate.
- Mary is a very pretty girl.
1.Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.
- The Revolutionary decade was a pretty challenging time for business.
- By the Sheets you have sent me to peruse, the Account you have given of her Birth and Parentage is pretty exact [...].
1.A pretty person; a term of address to a pretty person.
- I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!
2.Something that is pretty.
- We'll stop at the knife store and look at the sharp pretties.
1.To make pretty; to beautify
- He sat on the hearth rug and began prettying the dog's coat.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #526
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Common
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
From Middle English prety, preti, praty, prati, from Old English prættiġ (“tricky, crafty, sly, cunning, wily, astute”), from Proto-West Germanic *prattug, from Proto-Germanic *prattugaz (“boastful, sly, slick, deceitful, tricky, cunning”), corresponding to prat (“trick”) + -y. Doublet of pratty.