PRETTY • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Pretty

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/prˈɪti/ Listen

adverb

Pretty adv. In some degree; moderately; considerably; rather; almost; less emphatic than very; as, I am pretty sure of the fact; pretty cold weather. "Pretty plainly professes himself a sincere Christian."

adjective

Pretty adj. (compar. prettier; superl. prettiest)

Pleasing by delicacy or grace; attracting, but not striking or impressing; of a pleasing and attractive form a color; having slight or diminutive beauty; neat or elegant without elevation or grandeur; pleasingly, but not grandly, conceived or expressed; as, a pretty face; a pretty flower; a pretty poem. "This is the prettiest lowborn lass that ever Ran on the greensward."

Moderately large; considerable; as, he had saved a pretty fortune. "Wavering a pretty while."

Affectedly nice; foppish; used in an ill sense. "The pretty gentleman is the most complaisant in the world."

Mean; despicable; contemptible; used ironically; as, a pretty trick; a pretty fellow.

Stout; strong and brave; intrepid; valiant. (Scot.) "(He) observed they were pretty men, meaning not handsome."

Synonyms: Elegant; neat; fine. See Handsome.

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Etymology of 'Pretty'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Pretty" Quotes from Famous Books

... grammar, or even theology, he could make mistakes as other men do, because the Holy Ghost has not promised to guide him in such things. Nevertheless, whatever the Pope teaches on anything you may be pretty sure is right. The Pope is nearly always a very learned man of many years' experience. He has with him at Rome learned men from every part of the world, so that we may say he has the experience of the whole world. Other rulers cannot and need not know as much as the Holy Father, because ...

— Baltimore Catechism No. 4 (of 4) - An Explanation Of The Baltimore Catechism of Christian Doctrine • Thomas L. Kinkead

... yes! Ain't it yer forting as y' wan's tole? Oh, my pretty one, you asks ole mother for a fair future! I ...

— The Bishop's Secret • Fergus Hume

... "Nothing at all to your pretty friend," he leered. "I have plans for her. But as for you—see these creatures ...

— Pirates of the Gorm • Nat Schachner

... She is outdone about it. "A pretty tale for a child to be hearing," she says. "It is but a fearbabe. I wonder at ...

— A Warwickshire Lad - The Story of the Boyhood of William Shakespeare • George Madden Martin

... dark; and here My sunlit time is short, but dear; but dear. Thou hast fought hard enough. Thou drawest breath Even now, long past thy portioned hour of death, By murdering her ... and blamest my faint heart, Coward, who hast let a woman play thy part And die to save her pretty soldier! Aye, A good plan, surely! Thou needst never die; Thou canst find alway somewhere some fond wife To die for thee. But, prithee, make not strife With other friends, who will not save thee so. Be silent, loving ...

— Alcestis • Euripides

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