English Online Dictionary. What means pretty? What does pretty mean?
English
Alternative forms
- pooty, purdy (nonstandard)
- purty (informal)
- pratty (dialectal)
- prettie, pretie (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English prety, preti, praty, prati, from Old English prættiġ (“tricky, crafty, sly, cunning, wily, astute”), from Proto-West Germanic *prattug, from Proto-Germanic *prattugaz (“boastful, sly, slick, deceitful, tricky, cunning”), corresponding to prat (“trick”) + -y. Doublet of pratty.
Cognate with Dutch prettig (“nice, pleasant”), Low German prettig (“funny”), Icelandic prettugur (“deceitful, tricky”). For the semantic development, compare canny, clever, cute.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpɹɪti/, (Indic) /ˈprɪʈi/
- (US, dialectal) IPA(key): /ˈpɝti/
- (US, rare) IPA(key): /ˈpɹʊti/
- (US, dated or humorous) IPA(key): /ˈpɔɪti/
- (Indic, spelling pronunciation, proscribed) IPA(key): /ˈprɛʈi/
- Rhymes: -ɪti
Adjective
pretty (comparative prettier, superlative prettiest)
- Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children. [from 15th c.]
- Coordinate term: handsome
- Near-synonym: dainty
- Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing. [from 15th c.]
- (often derogatory) Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty. [from 15th c.]
- (UK, sometimes derogatory) Effeminate.
- Cunning; clever, skilful. [from 9th c.]
- (dated) Moderately large; considerable. [from 15th c.]
- (dated) Excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.). [from 16th c.]
- (ironic) Awkward, unpleasant, bad. [from 16th c.]
- (programming, of code) Matching commonly accepted principles of formatting and syntax, for the sake of readability.
Antonyms
- ugly
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Japanese: プリティー (puritī), プリティ (puriti), プリチー (purichī)
Translations
Further reading
- Pretty in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
Adverb
pretty (not comparable)
- Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.
- (dialect) Prettily, in a pretty manner.
Usage notes
- When particularly stressed, the adverb pretty serves almost to diminish the adjective or adverb that it modifies, by emphasizing that there are greater levels of intensity.
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
pretty (plural pretties)
- A pretty person; a term of address to a pretty person.
- Something that is pretty.
Derived terms
- play pretty
- stink pretty
Verb
pretty (third-person singular simple present pretties, present participle prettying, simple past and past participle prettied)
- To make pretty; to beautify
Derived terms
- pretty up
Anagrams
- Pettry