pretty

1 of 4

adjective

pret·​ty ˈpri-tē How to pronounce pretty (audio) ˈpər- How to pronounce pretty (audio)
 also  ˈpru̇-
prettier; prettiest
1
a
b
: pat, apt
2
a
: pleasing by delicacy or grace
b
: having conventionally accepted elements of beauty
c
: appearing or sounding pleasant or nice but lacking strength, force, manliness, purpose, or intensity
pretty words that make no senseElizabeth B. Browning
3
a
: miserable, terrible
a pretty mess you've gotten us into
b
chiefly Scotland : stout
4
: moderately large : considerable
a very pretty profit
cost a pretty penny
5
: easy to enjoy : pleasant
usually used in negative constructions
reality is not so prettyCaleb Solomon
prettily
ˈpri-tə-lē How to pronounce pretty (audio)
ˈpər-
 also  ˈpru̇-
adverb
prettyish
ˈpri-tē-ish How to pronounce pretty (audio)
ˈpər-
 also  ˈpru̇-
adjective

pretty

2 of 4

adverb

pret·​ty ˈpri-tē How to pronounce pretty (audio) ˈpər- How to pronounce pretty (audio)
 also  ˈpru̇-;
 before "near(ly)" often  ˈpərt,
 or  ˈprit,
 or  ˈpru̇t
1
a
: in some degree : moderately
pretty cold weather
b
: quite, mainly
the wound was … pretty badWalt Whitman
2
: in a gracefully pleasing manner : prettily
pop vocalists who can sing prettyGerald Levitch
Using Pretty as an Adverb: Usage Guide

Some handbooks complain that pretty is overworked and recommend the selection of a more specific word or advise that pretty should be restricted to informal or colloquial contexts. Pretty is used to tone down a statement and is in wide use across the whole spectrum of English. It is common in informal speech and writing but is neither rare nor wrong in serious discourse

he may, if he be pretty well off or clever, qualify himself as a doctor G. B. Shaw
a return to those traditions of American foreign policy which worked pretty well for over a century H. S. Commager
the arguments for buying expensive books have to be pretty cogent The Times Literary Supplement (London)

pretty

3 of 4

noun

pret·​ty ˈpri-tē How to pronounce pretty (audio) ˈpər- How to pronounce pretty (audio)
 also  ˈpru̇-
plural pretties
1
pretties plural : dainty clothes
especially : lingerie
2
: a pretty person or thing

pretty

4 of 4

verb

pret·​ty ˈpri-tē How to pronounce pretty (audio) ˈpər- How to pronounce pretty (audio)
 also  ˈpru̇-
prettied; prettying

transitive verb

: to make pretty
usually used with up
curtains to pretty up the room
Phrases
pretty much
Choose the Right Synonym for pretty

beautiful, lovely, handsome, pretty, comely, fair mean exciting sensuous or aesthetic pleasure.

beautiful applies to whatever excites the keenest of pleasure to the senses and stirs emotion through the senses.

beautiful mountain scenery

lovely is close to beautiful but applies to a narrower range of emotional excitation in suggesting the graceful, delicate, or exquisite.

a lovely melody

handsome suggests aesthetic pleasure due to proportion, symmetry, or elegance.

a handsome Georgian mansion

pretty often applies to superficial or insubstantial attractiveness.

a painter of conventionally pretty scenes

comely is like handsome in suggesting what is coolly approved rather than emotionally responded to.

the comely grace of a dancer

fair suggests beauty because of purity, flawlessness, or freshness.

fair of face

Examples of pretty in a Sentence

Adjective This white shape stood apart by the hedge alone. From her position he knew it to be the pretty maiden with whom he had not danced. Trifling as the matter was, he yet instinctively felt that she was hurt by his oversight. Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, 1891
Darcy, on the contrary, had seen a collection of people in whom there was little beauty and no fashion, for none of whom he had felt the smallest interest, and from none received either attention or pleasure. Miss Bennet he acknowledged to be pretty, but she smiled too much. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1813
He made a pretty profit selling his antique car. She received a pretty sum of money. Adverb By taunting the police, beating drums and throwing rocks, the rioters make it pretty clear that they want not a rational debate but the world's attention … Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek, 30 Apr. 2001
… I could pretty much go wherever I felt a story led … Roy Blount, Jr., New York Times Book Review, 9 Mar. 1986
… regards most of us as pretty irrevocably plunged in illusion. Iris Murdoch, The Fire and the Sun, 1977
The reflected radiance served to show, pretty distinctly, the aspect and arrangement of the room which Hepzibah entered, after descending the stairs. Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of Seven Gables, 1851
“Did you put the keys on the table?” “I'm pretty sure I did.” The teams are pretty equally matched. The work is pretty hard. I have to leave pretty soon. The movie was pretty good but not great. They've accomplished some pretty amazing things. She was driving pretty fast. Verb She prettied the cake with icing, sprinkles, and nuts.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Jogging alongside a scenic riverbank or through a pedestrian-friendly sidewalk that winds through that gorgeous neighborhood with the pretty trees is a completely different experience than stomping away at the gym or running laps around a nearby track. Jenna Ryu, SELF, 22 Mar. 2024 Reddish Orange Two cups of red onion skins make for a pretty shade of reddish-orange on white eggs or red on brown eggs. Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 22 Mar. 2024 This perennial forms low mounds of pretty foliage, which is evergreen in places with mild winters. Halee Miller, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Mar. 2024 Just don’t drop it, as the glass construction makes this massager a bit delicate (and pretty). Isabella Ubaldi, Health, 20 Mar. 2024 Guests can’t help but smile when being served a meal on this pretty calico print. Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 18 Mar. 2024 The Kallie Flowy Tunic Dress: Mini Edition Buy on Anthropologie $78 Ideal for days spent soaking in the sun, this pretty and flowy tunic dress from Anthropologie will make a lovely addition to any closet. Rachel Simon, Southern Living, 9 Mar. 2024 But Take Note While aesthetically pleasing, this lovely table and chairs from Lalo also come with a pretty price tag. Samantha McIntyre, Parents, 9 Mar. 2024 The dress is also outfitted with a pretty lacy overlay that gives it a more elevated look, one that’s suitable for springtime weddings, holidays, and other special occasions. Clara McMahon, Peoplemag, 9 Mar. 2024
Adverb
That’s a pretty damning insight into the electric car market across America, and could explain why a company such as Ford is reportedly changing its tact and switching from big, expensive EVs to smaller, cheaper models. Owen Bellwood / Jalopnik, Quartz, 24 Mar. 2024 Despite going for some pretty broad tropes in the setup, Calderón Kellett is proving herself worthy of carrying the late master’s torch into the realm of theater. Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Mar. 2024 The result went over like a charm, with the teenager — and husband — asking me to make broccoli that way pretty much every time since. Joe Yonan, Washington Post, 24 Mar. 2024 Since the players from that team moved on, Dixon has built some pretty good rosters, with decent players. Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Mar. 2024 My idea of an ordinary lifestyle is pretty elevated. Rob Tannenbaum, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2024 Once upon a time, winning the Ohio vote for president pretty much meant spending the next four years in the White House. Ron Elving, NPR, 23 Mar. 2024 Chances of cloudy skies are pretty high along much of the eclipse's northern path, with some areas like Buffalo having about a one-in-three chance of clear skies in early April. USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2024 Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry Patch pretty puff pastry on the top of this famous comfort dish for an extra crunch. Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 12 Mar. 2024
Noun
Wise is the new pretty. Susan Dunne, courant.com, 28 Sep. 2020 Sustainable and oh-so-pretty, this skirt was made to accentuate curves. Dobrina Zhekova, Travel + Leisure, 13 Mar. 2023 Stretched along a river in the heart of the Netherlands, the town of Wageningen is not postcard-pretty. Marta Zaraska, Discover Magazine, 13 Mar. 2019 This drive along the northern New England coast takes just over three hours, but is filled with charm: think endless beaches, fishing harbors, artist colonies, and postcard-pretty villages clinging to the edge of the water. Mark Ellwood, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 June 2020 Most people seem to agree — the bartenders have a habit of making the drinks in a pretty row at the bar, in the style of the Irish coffee pros at Buena Vista Cafe. Soleil Ho, SFChronicle.com, 29 Aug. 2019 That was 2013 and the beginning of the time when models who weren’t cookie-cutter-pretty were getting booked. Amanda Fitzsimons, Glamour, 1 June 2018 For my mom, who still keeps her recipes on index cards, this beyond-pretty box. Meredith Rollins, Redbook, 1 Dec. 2013 Pretty late in the game for a free agent to be looking for a new ride. Jim Ayello, Indianapolis Star, 14 July 2017
Verb
Like other quarantine micro-trends—sourdough starters, for one—the drink grew popular online for being both easy to make and pretty to photograph. Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 29 Apr. 2020 In other words, despite the gaping asymmetries of information between the industry and the public, brokerages still shell out big-time to pretty up their BrokerCheck reputations. Gwynn Guilford, Quartz, 3 Mar. 2020 While all real estate is local, as the saying goes, the one constant is that February is the month when the spring market looms and sellers nationwide begin prettying their properties and readying them to list. Katy McLaughlin, WSJ, 20 Feb. 2020 Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa—what kind of animal spends all their waking hours prettying up their vehicle and then stores it in the air? Popular Science, 9 Sep. 2019 The backdrop of drab civic office buildings is being prettied up with dozens of massive murals from some of the city’s resident artists. Gregory Thomas, SFChronicle.com, 22 Aug. 2019 The use of filters can help signal a benign post: People don’t tend to pretty up their victimizing. Katy Steinmetz, Time, 8 July 2019 The Ugly Other games that are not as beautiful Verdict: Lots of stuff to do and pretty things to look at, but few fresh ideas. Daniel Starkey, Ars Technica, 4 Oct. 2018 One of the ideas envisioned by Vivo is to take in a full body scan of a person and then feed that information to a beautification AI that would more intelligently and proportionately pretty you up. Vlad Savov, The Verge, 27 June 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pretty.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective, Adverb, Noun, and Verb

Middle English praty, prety, from Old English prættig tricky, from prætt trick; akin to Old Norse prettr trick

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adverb

1565, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

1616, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1868, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pretty was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near pretty

Cite this Entry

“Pretty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pretty. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pretty

1 of 3 adjective
pret·​ty ˈprit-ē How to pronounce pretty (audio) ˈpu̇rt- How to pronounce pretty (audio)
prettier; prettiest
: delicately or gracefully attractive to the eye or ear
a pretty face
pretty tunes
prettily
ˈprit-ᵊl-ē How to pronounce pretty (audio)
ˈpu̇rt-
adverb
prettiness
ˈprit-ē-nəs
ˈpu̇rt-
noun

pretty

2 of 3 adverb
pret·​ty ˈprit-ē How to pronounce pretty (audio) pərt-ē How to pronounce pretty (audio)
: in some degree : fairly, moderately
pretty big
was pretty much ignored

pretty

3 of 3 noun
 like 1 
plural pretties
: a pretty person or thing

More from Merriam-Webster on pretty

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