pretty
Americanadjective
-
prettier,
comparative
-
prettiest
superlative
-
pleasing or attractive to the eye, as by delicacy or gracefulness.
a pretty face.
- Synonyms:
- attractive
- Antonyms:
- ugly
-
(of things, places, etc.) pleasing to the eye, especially without grandeur.
- Synonyms:
- pleasant
-
pleasing to the ear.
a pretty tune.
- Synonyms:
- pleasant
-
pleasing to the mind or aesthetic taste.
He writes pretty little stories.
- Synonyms:
- pleasant
-
(often used ironically) fine; grand.
This is a pretty mess!
-
Informal. considerable; fairly great.
This accident will cost him a pretty sum.
-
Archaic or Scot. brave; hardy.
noun
-
pretties
plural
-
Usually pretties. pretty ornaments, clothes, etc.
-
a pretty person.
Sit down, my pretty.
adverb
-
fairly or moderately.
Her work was pretty good.
- Synonyms:
- somewhat
-
quite; very.
The wind blew pretty hard.
-
Informal. prettily.
verb (used with object)
-
pretties,
present (3rd person singular)
-
prettied,
past participle, past
-
prettying
present participle
idioms
adjective
-
pleasing or appealing in a delicate or graceful way
-
dainty, neat, or charming
-
commendable; good of its kind
he replied with a pretty wit
-
informal excellent, grand, or fine
here's a pretty mess!
-
informal lacking in masculinity; effeminate; foppish
-
vigorous or brave
-
an archaic word for elegant
-
informal a large sum of money
-
informal well placed or established financially, socially, etc
noun
adverb
-
informal fairly or moderately; somewhat
-
informal quite or very
verb
Usage
The qualifying adverb pretty, meaning “fairly or moderately” has been in general use since the late 16th century. Although most common in informal speech and writing, it is far from restricted to them, and often is less stilted than alternatives such as relatively, moderately, and quite.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
prettinessnoun
-
unprettinessnoun
-
prettyishadjective
-
unprettyadjective
-
prettilyadverb
-
unprettilyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
prettysimple
-
prettiessimple
-
have prettiedperfect
-
has prettiedperfect
-
am prettyingprogressive
-
are prettyingprogressive
-
is prettyingprogressive
-
have been prettyingperfect progressive
-
has been prettyingperfect progressive
Past
-
prettiedsimple
-
had prettiedperfect
-
was prettyingprogressive
-
were prettyingprogressive
-
had been prettyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pretty
First recorded before 1000; Middle English prati(e), pratte, prettie “cunning, gallant, fine, handsome, pretty”; Old English prættig, prettī “cunning,” derivative of prǣtt “a trick, wile”; cognate with Dutch part, pret “trick, prank,” Old Norse prettr “trick,” prettugr “tricky”
Explanation
Use the word pretty to describe something with a delicate and pleasant appearance. Something that’s pretty is less powerful and intimidating than something that’s beautiful, the way a pretty floral raincoat is less intimidating than a beautiful film star. The adjective pretty describes things that look nice, but it can also be used jokingly to say that something’s bad. If you say, “That’s a pretty mess you got me into!” that means it’s a bad mess. Pretty has an adverb form that means something is present to a moderate degree, another way to say fairly. You might be pretty sure you’ll be done studying by 9:00. That means you’re fairly certain but not positive.
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.
See Examples For:
Max , 32, chuckled Wednesday when informed of that wisecrack, conceding that he’s got some pretty stiff competition in his family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Ryan said he had flown "pretty much every RAF helicopter you can think of" over the years, but "this one was a lot safer, more comfortable and definitely heading to a very different destination".
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
The airline revamped its fare structure and pretty much everything else about the business model when it switched to assigned seating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests it’s pretty close to her current SSI payment of $270, meaning the SSA has probably already evaluated her existing living arrangement and applied the full PMV reduction.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
The pretty girl glanced at Hord and smiled shyly.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Squadrons of hair-metal pretties followed the new-wave glamourpusses, and even paragon-of-rock-virtue Bruce Springsteen had to wiggle his bum for pop culture’s new star-making machine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2021
I mean, it’s at that point you want to say, “Hello, my pretties, soon you too will be wearing the burgundy lipstick.”
From Slate ● Jan. 24, 2018
For $18.50, these twinned pretties seem just right.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2016
Last week, Kane’s hometown newspaper, the Times-Tribune of Scranton, ran a Halloween-theme cartoon of her as a witch saying: “I’ll get you my pretties … and your filthy emails too.”
From Washington Times ● Nov. 5, 2015
Two pretties were coming toward her, carrying sparklers.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
That has led some developers to hope that a prettier wrapper can help.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
But the price tag, some will think, is even prettier.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026
Left with no idea how to wrap itself up, “Undertone” throws every one of those horror tropes under a hydraulic press, shoving them together, hoping that the result will be prettier than just polished garbage.
From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2026
Now it’s an endless scroll of people who appear richer, prettier, more successful.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 21, 2026
Willis, who ran a publication devoted to high fashion and current trends, described all three Fox sisters as, “considerably prettier than average.”
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
“Even though I might have not been the most successful or the prettiest model that she had, I was reliable,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Once made, it is a beautiful shade of pink, dotted throughout with colorful fruits and berries, so serve it in your prettiest bowl because it brings plenty of visual appeal.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026
Behind her back, Epstein seems to have been far from complimentary, sending another contact a link to a newspaper article about Ferguson, with the comment: "Pic of F from Friday not the prettiest sight."
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2026
Blossom — “the prettiest lil thing,” per her mom — arrived in September 2024 after Cardi B and Offset were already estranged.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
Tillie was filling in the who-what-when-and-where on the invitations when I noticed that she had the prettiest handwriting I had ever seen.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
Miss Shirley doesn’t usually mind all the ruckus on her Southwest Washington street corner, which was recently prettied up with a sprawling, candy-colored mural of a lotus blossom and a child.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 31, 2022
He then sat down with other volunteers in a shaded eating area prettied with multicolored bougainvilleas to fret about if their work even had a place in today’s Catholic Church.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2021
Lackluster compounds are evaluated in ways guaranteed to make them look good, Goldacre writes, then prettied up even further with distorted claims of efficacy.
From New York Times ● Dec. 17, 2018
They are prettied up, to be sure – they are not the oligarchy as it is, but as it would like to see itself.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 2, 2018
I long for my days at the gallery, prettied up, hair done, talking to adults about art or films or nothing at all.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
If your partner isn’t willing to embrace these incidents, you’re probably going to feel prettying alone in addressing them.
From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2015
But there’s not way of prettying up the squalid truth: “My legendary girlfriend, she is crying tonight / Oh no, she doesn’t feel right / She’s got no one to hold.”
From The Guardian ● Jun. 24, 2015
By hanging a sign on, exposing, illuminating or prettying up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2014
But these women are not ornamental, prettying up the scenery.
From New York Times ● Dec. 21, 2010
As the nomad tribe passed from place to place with its goats, its sheep, its camels, Johnny with his sons and grandsons would take to prettying up the camp sites a bit.
From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Thirty-Seventh Annual Report Wooster, Ohio, September 3, 4, 5, 1946 by Northern Nut Growers Association
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.
