pretty

UK/ˈpɹɪt.i//ˈpɹɪt.i/

pretty adjective: pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.

Adjective

pretty (comparative prettier, superlative prettiest)

Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
- 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.1879, Henry James, chapter III, in Confidence, London: Chatto & Windus
- 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 week1917, Michigan Film Review, page 347
Synonyms:

dainty
Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing.
- Some fans may have mistaken the album’s floatiness for aimlessness, but Mr. Mercer’s songs have never been sneakier, or prettier.2007 October 25, Kelefa Sanneh, “Songs With a Sneaky Streak”, in The New York Times
- 'Petit Posy' brassicas […] are a cross between kale and brussels sprouts, and are really very pretty with a mild, sweet taste.2010 February 13, Lia Leendertz, The Guardian
(derogatory, often) Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty.
- 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."1962 September 28, “New Life for the Liberals”, in Time
(UK, derogatory, sometimes) Effeminate.
Cunning; clever, skilful.
- 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 […].1877, George Hesekiel, Bayard Taylor, Bismarck his Authentic Biography, page 380
(dated) Moderately large; considerable.
- 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 […].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...
- "What did you do to your hair?" The answer could be worth a pretty penny for L'Oreal.2004 January 26, “Because They're Worth it”, in Time
(dated) Excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.).
- 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.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
- ‘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.’1919, Saki, ‘The Oversight’, The Toys of Peace
(ironic) Awkward, unpleasant, bad.
- "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."1839, The Cottager's Monthly Visitor, volume 19, page 270
- [A] pretty thing it would be, if a man of business had to examine every cab-horse before he hired it—[…][1877], Anna Sewell, “”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part IV, page 235
Matching commonly accepted principles of formatting and syntax, for the sake of readability.

Adverb

pretty (not comparable)

Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.
- They are proud, and vveare their hayre pretty long, and about their criſpes vvreath a valuable Shaſh or Tulipant; […]1638, Tho[mas] Herbert, “Of Java Major”, in Some Yeares Travels Into Divers Parts of Asia and Afrique. […], 2nd edition, London: […] R[ichard] Bi[sho]p for Iacob Blome and Richard Bishop, →OCLC, book...
- By the Sheets you have sent me to peruse, the Account you have given of her Birth and Parentage is pretty exact [...].1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of Sally Salisbury, section V
(dialectal) Prettily, in a pretty manner.
- 'The boy sings pretty, don't he, Master Marner?'1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter X, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC

Noun

pretty (plural pretties)

A pretty person; a term of address to a pretty person.
- I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!1939, Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf, The Wizard of Oz
Something that is pretty.
- 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
- He sat on the hearth rug and began prettying the dog's coat.2007, Eric Knight, Lassie Come-Home, →ISBN, page 29

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Pretty

Pretty (plural Prettys)

A surname.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Pretty

Pretty (plural Prettys)

(alternative) Alternative form of Preeti; A female given name from Sanskrit.

pretty meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Telugu

pretty in Hindi

of objects: nice-looking: मनोरम manoram
especially of women and children: pleasant, attractive: सुंदर sundar, ख़ूबसूरत xūbsūrat

pretty in Marathi

especially of women and children: pleasant, attractive: सुंदर sundar

pretty in Urdu

especially of women and children: pleasant, attractive: خوبصورت xūbsūrat, سندر sundar

pretty in Telugu

especially of women and children: pleasant, attractive: అందమైన andamaina

More languagesFewer languages

pretty in Kannada: ಸುಂದರ sundara
pretty in Tagalog: maganda
pretty in Arabic: جَمِيل jamīl, لَطِيف laṭīf
pretty in Malay: cantik, jelita
pretty in Indonesian: cantik
pretty in Persian: قشنگ qašang, زیبا zibâ, خوشگل xošgel
pretty in Thai: น่ารัก nâa-rák, สวย sǔai, ค่อนข้าง kɔ̂n-kâang
pretty in Vietnamese: xinh xắn, xinh, khá
pretty in Myanmar: လှ hla.

Examples of pretty in a sentence

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.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
A pretty sort you are to do battle for anyone.—Why, they’re only make-believes!’1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:
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.1931 January 26, “Done to a Turn”, in Time:
"[…] 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."1995, Les Standiford, Deal to die for, page 123:

All 40 example sentences with pretty

Synonyms of pretty

dainty

Antonyms

ugly

Forms of pretty

Adjective
comparative	prettier
superlative	prettiest
alternative form	pooty
alternative form	purdy
alternative form	purty
alternative form (dialectal)	pratty
alternative form (obsolete)	prettie
alternative form (obsolete)	pretie
Noun
plural	pretties
Verb
third-person singular present	pretties
present participle	prettying
past participle	prettied
past	prettied
Proper noun
plural	Prettys

Origin of pretty

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.

From Sanskrit प्रीति (prīti).

Phrases with pretty

Words that rhyme with pretty

24 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about pretty

What does pretty mean?: Pretty means pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
What is pretty in Hindi?: Pretty in Hindi is मनोरम (manoram), सुंदर (sundar), ख़ूबसूरत (xūbsūrat). See Pretty meaning in Hindi.
How do you use pretty in a sentence?: 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.
What part of speech is pretty?: Pretty can be an adjective, an adverb, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce pretty?: Pretty is pronounced /ˈpɹɪt.i/ (UK).

Words near pretty in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: pretty (page history and authors); Pretty (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-pretty.ogg.

Cite this entry: “pretty.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pretty. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.