pretty (up)

verb

ˈpri-tē How to pronounce pretty (up) (audio)
Definition of pretty (up)next
as in to adorn
to make more attractive by adding something that is beautiful or becoming you could pretty up the room rather inexpensively simply by painting it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretty (up)
  1. adorn
  2. decorate
Verb
  • For the residency, Golann produced a monumental wooden vessel adorned with nature motifs carved in bas relief.
    — Harrison Jacobs, ARTnews.com, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Tables adorned with lush greenery and floral arrangements were set with marinated olives, Marcona almonds, and bread and butter.
    — Kelsey Stewart, Vogue, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of adorn
Verb
  • At Albany Park’s Bon Vivant Cakes, holiday decorating classes include a Christmas in Copenhagen cookie workshop, Funky Tree cake workshop, and Vintage Christmas cake workshop.
    — Allison Yates, Midwest Living, 3 Nov. 2026
  • In fact, the brand also offers helpful guides like gallery wall decorating tips and an array of free, downloadable art to make the process feel less daunting.
    — Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of decorate
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

pretty much
pretty (up)
prevail
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pretty (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretty%20%28up%29. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All