Etimology
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. Cognate with Dutch prettig (“nice, pleasant”), Low German prettig (“funny”), Icelandic prettugur (“deceitful, tricky”). For the semantic development, compare canny, clever, cute.
adjective
pretty (comparative prettier, superlative prettiest)
Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children. [from 15th c.]
Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing. [from 15th c.]
(often derogatory) Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty. [from 15th c.]
(UK, sometimes derogatory) Effeminate.
Cunning; clever, skilful. [from 9th c.]
(dated) Moderately large; considerable. [from 15th c.]
(dated) Excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.). [from 16th c.]
(ironic) Awkward, unpleasant, bad. [from 16th c.]
Examples
The face which emerged was not reassuring. […]. He was not a mongol but there was a deficiency of a sort there, and it was not made more pretty by a latter-day hair cut which involved eccentrically long elf-locks and oiled black curls.
To escape a violent beating from sailors to whom he has sold a non-functioning car, Jerry takes his stepfamily for a holiday in a trailer park miles away, where, miraculously, young Nick meets a very pretty young woman called Sheeni, played by Portia Doubleday.
'Petit Posy' brassicas […] are a cross between kale and brussels sprouts, and are really very pretty with a mild, sweet taste.
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."
In the end, however, it was a very pretty shot, right across the chasm; killed first fire, and the brute fell headlong into the brook […] .
they flung all the goods in the house out at the windows into the street, or into the sea, as they supposed; thus they continued mad a pretty season […].
"What did you do to your hair?" The answer could be worth a pretty penny for L'Oreal.
Some people are surprised, I believe, that that the eldest was not [named after his father], but Isabella would have him named Henry, which I thought very pretty of her.
‘This new fashion of introducing the candidate's children into an election contest is a pretty one,’ said Mrs. Panstreppon; ‘it takes away something from the acerbity of party warfare, and it makes an interesting experience for the children to look back on in after years.’
"Oh, Jake." Brett said, "we could have had such a damned good time together." Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed suddenly pressing Brett against me. "Yes", I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?"
"Nay, not I; it is a pretty thing to expect me to wash them; you may take them back again, and say, as Sally had them before, she may wash them now, for me; I am not going to be 'Jack at a pinch,' I can tell you."
A pretty thing it would be if a man of business had to examine every cab-horse before he hired it
‘You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Marjorie Lindon, to even think such nonsense. Are you all nerves and morbid imaginings,—you who have prided yourself on being so strong-minded! A pretty sort you are to do battle for anyone.—Why, they’re only make-believes!’
His sadistic self-torturings finally landed him in a pretty mess: still completely married, practically sure he was in love with Tillie, he made dishonorable proposals of marriage to two other women.
" […] you can still see where the kid's face is swollen up from this talk: couple of black eyes, lip all busted up, nose over sideways," Driscoll shook his head again, "just a real pretty picture."
Related words
antonyms
ugly
adverb
pretty (not comparable)
Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.
(dialect) Prettily, in a pretty manner.
Examples
By the Sheets you have sent me to peruse, the Account you have given of her Birth and Parentage is pretty exact [...].
Pauſanias's account is related pretty faithfully there, if we except two errors, one, that Arcas an Olympian mixed ſome Hippomanes with the brazen ſtatue, the other that he caſt a mare.
It seems pretty clear that organic beings must be exposed during several generations to the new conditions of life to cause any appreciable amount of variation; […]
I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.
The Revolutionary decade was a pretty challenging time for business.
'The boy sings pretty, don't he, Master Marner?'
noun
pretty (plural pretties)
A pretty person; a term of address to a pretty person.
Something that is pretty.
Examples
I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!
We'll stop at the knife store and look at the sharp pretties.
verb
pretty (third-person singular simple present pretties, present participle prettying, simple past and past participle prettied)
To make pretty; to beautify
Examples
He sat on the hearth rug and began prettying the dog's coat.