sitting pretty

Syllables: sit·ting pret·tyUK/ˈsɪtɪŋ ˈpɹɪti/US/ˈsɪtɪŋ ˈpɹɪti/

sitting pretty adjective: having a comfortable or certain supply of money or resources.

Adjective

sitting pretty (not comparable)

(idiomatic, informal) Having a comfortable or certain supply of money or resources.
- Part of that memorandum of Mr. Hanshue's refers to directors sitting pretty in thinking they were all set for certain benefits.1934, Investigation of Air Mail and Ocean Mail Contracts: Hearings before a Special Committee on Investigation of Air Mail and Ocean Mail Contracts, United States Senate, Seventy-third Congress...
- Lauren Hutton, 28, was sitting pretty. The omnipresent model had just signed a two-year, $200,000 contract.1973 July 20, “People in the News”, in Time, archived from the original on 14 Dec 2008
Synonyms:

easy street
(idiomatic, informal) In a favorable situation, especially a situation in which one possesses an advantage.
- "I was sitting pretty all the time, Derry." Al had laughed at the self-accusation in her eyes. "You can tell them all from me—I was sitting on the world."1919, Donn Byrne, “chapter XXVI”, in The Strangers' Banquet, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 351
- That's not a threat, sir, for they have played fair with me, and I sha'n't sacrifice a penny of their money—unless they force me to do so. But—I'm in control. I'm sitting pretty. They can't unseat me, and I warn them not to try.1922, Rex [Ellingwood] Beach, “chapter XXIV”, in Flowing Gold, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, by arrangement with Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 290

I asked her if she realized Michael could be killed in Iraq and she had laughed and said it wouldn't matter as long as she had the baby she would be sitting pretty with his death benefits.2014 June 11, Michelle Lee, The Unexpected Package, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 90:
Calvin Klein is reportedly sitting pretty in another of McClean's dazzling $25 million Hollywood Hills creations.2021 January 30, Tanya Sweeney, “The Irish architect who became the ‘megamansion king’ of LA”, in The Irish Times:
Either way, the multi-hyphenate [Dan Levy] signed a^([sic]) 8-figure deal with Netflix in 2021 (per Variety) so he's sitting pretty either way!2024 September 16, Mehera Bonner, “Wondering What Dan Levy Is Making for Hosting the 2024 Emmys? Here's a Deep Dive on His Net Worth!”, in...
We were both sitting pretty back then, back in the 20th Century.2010, Donald O'Donovan, “The Golden Age: From the Novel Orgasmo”, in The Sugarhouse: A Novella: Plus Four Novel Excerpts from Orgasmo...

What does sitting pretty mean?: Sitting pretty means having a comfortable or certain supply of money or resources.
How do you use sitting pretty in a sentence?: I asked her if she realized Michael could be killed in Iraq and she had laughed and said it wouldn't matter as long as she had the baby she would be sitting pretty with his death benefits.
What part of speech is sitting pretty?: Sitting pretty is an adjective.
How do you pronounce sitting pretty?: Sitting pretty is pronounced /ˈsɪtɪŋ ˈpɹɪti/ (UK).

Adapted from Wiktionary: sitting 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-au-sitting pretty.ogg.

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