pretty
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpɹɪti/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈprɪʈi/
ipa: /ˈpɝti/
ipa: /ˈpɹʊti/
ipa: /ˈpɔɪti/
note: Indic, spelling pronunciation, proscribed
ipa: /ˈprɛʈi/
rhymes: -ɪti
Forms: form: prettier
form: prettiest
form: pooty
form: purdy
form: purty
form: pratty
form: prettie
form: pretie
Etymology: 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. Doublet of pratty.
Cognate with Dutch prettig (“nice, pleasant”), Low German prettig (“funny”), Icelandic prettugur (“deceitful, tricky”). For the semantic development, compare canny, clever, cute.
Senses: examples: text: Having brought it to a close, he took his way to the Kursaal. The great German watering-place is one of the prettiest nooks in Europe, and of a summer evening in the gaming days, five-and-twenty years ago, it was one of the most brilliant scenes.
ref: 1879, Henry James, chapter III, in Confidence, London: Chatto & Windus:
text: Hal Smith, manager of the Ferry Field theatre, Detroit, one of the largest and prettiest outskirt houses in town, played Metro's "Revelation" for three days last week
ref: 1917, Michigan Film Review, page 347:
text: 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.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
text: 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.
ref: 2010 February 4, Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian:
coordinate_terms: handsome
glosses: Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
examples: text: Some fans may have mistaken the album’s floatiness for aimlessness, but Mr. Mercer’s songs have never been sneakier, or prettier.
ref: 2007 October 25, Kelefa Sanneh, “Songs With a Sneaky Streak”, in The New York Times:
text: 'Petit Posy' brassicas […] are a cross between kale and brussels sprouts, and are really very pretty with a mild, sweet taste.
ref: 2010 February 13, Lia Leendertz, The Guardian:
glosses: Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing.
examples: text: 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."
ref: 1962 September 28, “New Life for the Liberals”, in Time:
glosses: Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty.
glosses: Effeminate.
examples: text: 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 […].
ref: 1877, George Hesekiel, Bayard Taylor, Bismarck his Authentic Biography, page 380:
glosses: Cunning; clever, skilful.
examples: text: 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 […].
ref: 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition I, section 2, member 4, subsection vii:
text: "What did you do to your hair?" The answer could be worth a pretty penny for L'Oreal.
ref: 2004 January 26, “Because They're Worth it”, in Time:
glosses: Moderately large; considerable.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], Emma: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC:
text: ‘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.’
ref: 1919, Saki, ‘The Oversight’, The Toys of Peace:
text: "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?"
ref: 1926, Ernest Hemingway, The sun also rises, page 251:
glosses: Excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.).
examples: text: "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."
ref: 1839, The Cottager's Monthly Visitor, volume 19, page 270:
text: [A] pretty thing it would be, if a man of business had to examine every cab-horse before he hired it—[…]
ref: [1877], Anna Sewell, “”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part IV, page 235:
text: ‘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!’
ref: 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:
text: 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.
ref: 1931 January 26, “Done to a Turn”, in Time:
text: "[…] 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."
ref: 1995, Les Standiford, Deal to die for, page 123:
glosses: Awkward, unpleasant, bad.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
glosses: Matching commonly accepted principles of formatting and syntax, for the sake of readability.
raw_tags: of code
Derived terms: don't worry your pretty little head
just another pretty face
none-so-pretty
not a pretty sight
not just another pretty face
not just a pretty face
prettify
prettiness
pretty as a picture
pretty as a speckled pup
pretty boy
pretty-by-night
pretty-faced wallaby
pretty horsebreaker
pretty pass
pretty penny
pretty pictures
pretty please
pretty police
pretty Polly
pretty-pretty
pretty-print
pretty-printer
pretty privilege
purdy
sitting pretty
who's a pretty boy then