prettify
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to make pretty, especially in a small, petty way.
to prettify a natural beauty.
-
to minimize or gloss over (something unpleasant).
to prettify his rude behavior.
verb
Other Word Forms
- prettification noun
- prettifier noun
- unprettified adjective
Etymology
Origin of prettify
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Instead, they take an approach that is at once more generous and more unsparing, refusing to either condemn their characters or prettify them.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 9, 2019
A court blocked the new owner’s attempts to prettify the courtyard with a new shed for the rubbish bins, and by insulating the walls.
From The Guardian • Oct. 4, 2016
It is exquisitely photographed, not in a way to prettify things but to recognize their beauty.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 15, 2014
Mark Romanek, director of the transcendent “Hurt” video, made late in Cash’s life, said he didn’t want “to prettify the whole thing.”
From Seattle Times • Dec. 11, 2013
But I knowed I had to prettify the story even more.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
