1
as in dude
a man extremely interested in his clothing and personal appearance
a downtown dance club with lots of pretty boys in attendance
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stud
a physically attractive man
as a musical performer, he has yet to prove that he's more than just another pretty boy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pretty boy
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
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
Brave, brilliant, ugly Cyrano yearns for Roxane (Evelyn Miller), who has fallen in love with pretty boy Christian (Eben Figueiredo), a soldier who has just enlisted in Cyrano’s tough-talking military regiment.
—Helen Shaw, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2022
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
This was the last time Leo would try to headline a big-budget movie still looking like the pretty boy of Titanic; after this, his next four films were for either Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 29 Dec. 2021
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
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
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
Brave, brilliant, ugly Cyrano yearns for Roxane (Evelyn Miller), who has fallen in love with pretty boy Christian (Eben Figueiredo), a soldier who has just enlisted in Cyrano’s tough-talking military regiment.
—Helen Shaw, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2022
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
This was the last time Leo would try to headline a big-budget movie still looking like the pretty boy of Titanic; after this, his next four films were for either Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 29 Dec. 2021
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretty boy
Noun
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Hey, weren't there two dudes at your school who looked a hell of a lot alike?—
Jordan Hoffman Updated,
EW.com,
2 Aug. 2025
-
Sandler’s ostensibly playing a cool dude, which on its surface isn’t a great fit, but his performance ends up kind of making sense after the big twist toward the end.—
Jesse David Fox,
Vulture,
30 July 2025
Noun
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Athletics closer Mason Miller, a stud with a 101 mph fastball, looked untouchable in trade talks — until Preller agreed to give up a prospect some considered likewise untouchable, 18-year-old shortstop Leo De Vries, as part of the return package.—
Andy McCullough,
New York Times,
1 Aug. 2025
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The Mets lead the NL East with a 62-47 record, though the Philadelphia Phillies, a team that added their own stud reliever in Jhoan Duran on Wednesday, are right behind them with a 61-47 record.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
31 July 2025
Noun
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Those accompanying videos, both of which feature her beau, actor Aaron Pierre, count 2.2 million and 1.2 million views, respectively, on YouTube.—
Gail Mitchell,
Billboard,
14 Aug. 2025
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Tracing her whereabouts leads first to current beau Money (Method Man), who joins Jaxen in the search.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
1 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Fashion and dandyism enthusiasts will immediately recall writings about historical fashion figure and dandy Beau Brummell, an arbiter of men’s style in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.—
Tonya Blazio-Licorish,
Footwear News,
3 Sep. 2019
-
The original dandy—most famously embodied by figures like Beau Brummell in 18th-century Britain—was a man whose primary purpose was to stand out by being impeccably groomed and dressed.—
Ty Gaskins,
Vogue,
29 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The film follows a rabbit named Judy Hopps and a fox named Nick Wilde—natural enemies who live in a city (the titular Zootopia) where predators and prey live together in peace and equality.—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
30 July 2025
-
That’s like asking a fox to investigate why the henhouse is empty.—
Houman Hemmati,
Oc Register,
20 July 2025
Noun
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The much-talked-about Cod Royale is Rouse’s take on the Filet-O-Fish, built around a battered hunk of fish sandwiched between a brioche bun, with a dripping dose of tangy tartar sauce, shredded iceberg, and spicy pickles.—
Pervaiz Shallwani,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
12 Aug. 2025
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Or Marcello, Emily’s Italian beau, who needed a different look than the typical Italian hunk.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
1 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Get an eyeful of Davidson on The Tonight Show in the interview above.—
Shania Russell,
EW.com,
23 July 2025
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Alternatively, get an eyeful of the Leake Street Arches—aka the London Graffiti tunnel—beneath Waterloo Station, and pop out on Lower Marsh, with its centuries-old street market and proper Lambeth vibe.—
Emma John,
AFAR Media,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pretty boy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretty%20boy. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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