sitting pretty

Cultural  

1. In a favorable position: “Abby finally got that promotion, and now she's sitting pretty.”

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sitting pretty Idioms  

1. In an advantageous position; also, financially well off. For example, The terms of the will left Mary sitting pretty. Although the use of pretty in the sense of “advantageous” is much older, this colloquialism dates only from the early 1900s. It was given extra currency as the title of two different musicals, Sittin' Pretty (M. Moore, 1921) and Sitting Pretty (G. Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, 1924).

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Example Sentences

Shareholders of those companies are sitting pretty on their gains, but those looking to put new money to work should look elsewhere.

From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026

To say Iran is sitting pretty would be a misreading.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

If you have an income of $200,000 and, for the sake of simplicity, let’s say you have $1 million in your tech-heavy mutual fund, and your home is paid off, you are sitting pretty.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 29, 2025

Mikel Arteta's side were sitting pretty as they exposed Spurs’ horrible frailty at corners, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own goal and Kai Havertz’s header bookending Bukayo Saka’s smooth finish on the counter for their second.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2024

"And who's finished up the better off? Me, of course. I'm sitting pretty in a nice house with a successful businessman and you're left slaving away teaching a lot of nasty little children the ABC."

From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl