pretty
Part of speech: adj
adv
noun
verb
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
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.
Base: prat
Affixes: -y
Inflected forms:
form: prettier
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: prettiest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: pooty
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: purdy
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: purty
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: pratty
pos: adj
tags: alternative
dialectal
form: prettie
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: pretie
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: pooty
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: purdy
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: purty
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: pratty
pos: adv
tags: alternative
dialectal
form: prettie
pos: adv
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: pretie
pos: adv
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: pretties
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: pooty
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: purdy
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: purty
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: pratty
pos: noun
tags: alternative
dialectal
form: prettie
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: pretie
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: pretties
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: prettying
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: prettied
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: prettied
pos: verb
tags: past
form: pooty
pos: verb
tags: alternative
form: purdy
pos: verb
tags: alternative
form: purty
pos: verb
tags: alternative
form: pratty
pos: verb
tags: alternative
dialectal
form: prettie
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: pretie
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
pos: adj
examples: 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.
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
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.
gloss: Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing.
pos: adj
examples: Some fans may have mistaken the album’s floatiness for aimlessness, but Mr. Mercer’s songs have never been sneakier, or prettier.
'Petit Posy' brassicas […] are a cross between kale and brussels sprouts, and are really very pretty with a mild, sweet taste.
gloss: Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty.
pos: adj
tags: derogatory
often
examples: 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."
gloss: Effeminate.
pos: adj
tags: UK
derogatory
sometimes
gloss: Cunning; clever, skilful.
pos: adj
examples: 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 […].
gloss: Moderately large; considerable.
pos: adj
tags: dated
examples: 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.
gloss: Excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.).
pos: adj
tags: dated
examples: 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?"
gloss: Awkward, unpleasant, bad.
pos: adj
tags: ironic
examples: "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."
gloss: Matching commonly accepted principles of formatting and syntax, for the sake of readability.
pos: adj
gloss: Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: They are proud, and vveare their hayre pretty long, and about their criſpes vvreath a valuable Shaſh or Tulipant; […]
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.
gloss: Prettily, in a pretty manner.
pos: adv
tags: dialectal
not-comparable
examples: 'The boy sings pretty, don't he, Master Marner?'
gloss: A pretty person; a term of address to a pretty person.
pos: noun
examples: I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!
gloss: Something that is pretty.
pos: noun
examples: We'll stop at the knife store and look at the sharp pretties.
gloss: To make pretty; to beautify
pos: verb
examples: He sat on the hearth rug and began prettying the dog's coat.
Antonyms: ugly
Derived words: 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
prettification
prettiful
prettify
prettikins
prettiness
pretty as a picture
pretty as a speckled pup
Pretty Beach
pretty boy
pretty-by-night
pretty-faced wallaby
pretty-face wallaby
pretty horsebreaker
prettyish
prettyism
pretty pass
pretty penny
pretty pictures
Pretty Pine
pretty please
pretty police
pretty Polly
pretty-pretty
pretty-print
pretty-printer
pretty privilege
prettysome
purdy
sitting pretty
unpretty
who's a pretty boy then
PDQ
pertineer
Pretty Good Privacy
pretty much
pretty-spoken
pretty well
play pretty
stink pretty
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: красив
roman: krasiv
lang: Catalan
word: bonic
lang: Maore Comorian
word: -zuri
lang: Finnish
word: sievä
lang: Finnish
word: viehättävä
lang: French
word: joli
lang: Greek
word: όμορφος
roman: ómorfos
lang: Italian
word: carino
lang: Kapampangan
word: masanting
lang: Khmer
word: ល្អ
roman: l’ɑɑ
lang: Latvian
word: glīts
lang: Latvian
word: skaists
lang: Mirandese
word: guapo
lang: Persian
word: قشنگ
roman: qašang
lang: Persian
word: زیبا
roman: zibâ
lang: Persian
word: خوشگل
roman: xošgel
lang: Plautdietsch
word: schmock
lang: Portuguese
word: bonito
lang: Portuguese
word: belo
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: snog
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: brèagha
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: lurach
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: maiseach
lang: Spanish
word: bonito
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: كوزل
roman: güzel, gözel
lang: Volapük
word: jönik