pretty boy
noun
informal + usually disparaging
: a man who is notably good-looking
also
: dandy sense 1
Examples of pretty boy in a Sentence
Movie critics seem to finally agree that this pretty boy can act.
a downtown dance club with lots of pretty boys in attendance
Recent Examples on the Web
Though both adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s novel offer an exceptionally warm atmosphere, with their amber hues and teary-eyed pretty boys, the soft touches of this ’90s classic are paired perfectly with a weighted blanket and some London Fog.
—
Emma Specter, Vogue, 30 Aug. 2025
At Hartford Stage, Rafael Jordan plays Sterling as a smooth-talking pretty boy who seems unwilling to get his hands dirty.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 4 Feb. 2025
Scott’s Tom Ripley was a clean break from that of Matt Damon; instead of a petulant pretty boy seized by envy and lust, this Ripley was older (Scott is in his late forties) and scarier, a lonesome manipulator with a murderous gleam in his eye.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
How to adopt: Interested adopters can meet pretty boy Pepper at the Arizona Humane Society’s South Mountain location.
—The Republic, The Arizona Republic, 21 Jan. 2023
John Boyega plays Dahomey’s young king, Ghezo, a benevolent if somewhat pretty boy leader who takes on soft diplomacy while deploying his Agojie to collect the heads of his enemies.
—Tribune News Service, cleveland, 16 Sep. 2022
Austin Butler’s version of Elvis is a sulky pretty boy with smokey-eye makeup, loud silk shirts, and lips the color and texture of bubblegum.
—Katie Rife, Vulture, 24 June 2022
To compare his 1955 Newman, a pretty boy whose smile is a quick squiggle, with the Newman of 2002, his features still handsome but etched by the passage of a half-century, is an epitome in two drawings of Hirschfeld’s art.
—Terry Teachout, WSJ, 6 Apr. 2021
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Emma Specter, Vogue, 30 Aug. 2025
At Hartford Stage, Rafael Jordan plays Sterling as a smooth-talking pretty boy who seems unwilling to get his hands dirty.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 4 Feb. 2025
Scott’s Tom Ripley was a clean break from that of Matt Damon; instead of a petulant pretty boy seized by envy and lust, this Ripley was older (Scott is in his late forties) and scarier, a lonesome manipulator with a murderous gleam in his eye.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
How to adopt: Interested adopters can meet pretty boy Pepper at the Arizona Humane Society’s South Mountain location.
—The Republic, The Arizona Republic, 21 Jan. 2023
John Boyega plays Dahomey’s young king, Ghezo, a benevolent if somewhat pretty boy leader who takes on soft diplomacy while deploying his Agojie to collect the heads of his enemies.
—Tribune News Service, cleveland, 16 Sep. 2022
Austin Butler’s version of Elvis is a sulky pretty boy with smokey-eye makeup, loud silk shirts, and lips the color and texture of bubblegum.
—Katie Rife, Vulture, 24 June 2022
To compare his 1955 Newman, a pretty boy whose smile is a quick squiggle, with the Newman of 2002, his features still handsome but etched by the passage of a half-century, is an epitome in two drawings of Hirschfeld’s art.
—Terry Teachout, WSJ, 6 Apr. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Pretty boy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pretty%20boy. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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