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:
“The only way I know that is it doesn’t get like a gazillion views, but I’m in the Daily Mail and Page Six pretty much every two weeks,” she noted.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
He has Evans too, although the person proposed to run baseball operations is pretty low on the list of priorities for MLB.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
“FDA is usually pretty conservative in terms of what warnings are worth mentioning in the label,” said Dr. Aaron S. Kesselheim, a Harvard Medical School professor who studies FDA regulation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
They were not always pretty to watch but they were ferociously hard to beat.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
But Nollie was different from me; she was pretty and well-behaved and always had her handkerchief.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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
For Christmas, Watson said she has a rotating Christmas Tree that she pretties with all Disney-themed ornaments.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 12, 2020
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
But now Tally was headed into the center of the island, where floats and revelers populated the bright streets all night Brand-new pretties like Peris always lived where the fun was most frantic.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
But the price tag, some will think, is even prettier.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026
It got prettier, too, when Claude Code built a cleaner user interface for…Claude Code.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Now it’s an endless scroll of people who appear richer, prettier, more successful.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 21, 2026
“Women are prettier when we raise our voices,” Sheinabum said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2025
“Your deer are much prettier than our ugly buffaloes,” she said, turning to the prairies for help and feeling glad that she had read one of the boys’ books in which Jo delighted.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Using the descriptive phrasing that was common then among older people, she said, “That is the prettiest little girl I have ever seen.”
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
“You can imagine stepping off the train in 1880s Monrovia and going and staying in this exact inn in the prettiest little town in the Old West,” Cain said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The prettiest team at the tournament was learning to win ugly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 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
“You’ll be the prettiest fairy there,” her mother had told her, and Ash grinned as her mother tucked a cloak of white rabbit fur around her chin.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
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
She looked over a Mitla parking lot fence prettied with balloons and flowers fake and real.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2020
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
“You’ll have to tell me all about it But don’t you dare tell anyone else. Not yet. Everyone’s going to be so intrigued. We can throw a big party when you get yourself prettied up.”
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
Kate, for her large part, is not satisfied to be "a plastic doll,…. a male-created bland and standard wife whose only job is prettying the prince" and to "produce an heir — and spare."
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2017
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
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.
