pretty

Less common meanings

4. 4
   shallowadjectivederogatory

   Fine-looking but only superficially attractive: initially appealing while having little real substance.

   Like a glossy cover wrapped around blank pages.

   The candidate offered pretty words that crumbled under the first hard question.

   It was a pretty speech, but it never explained how the city would pay for any of it.

   UsageOften in pretty words, a pretty speech, pretty little. Tone shows whether it is praise or a sneer.

   Similarfine, empty, glib, showy

   Note

   Here the praise works as an insult: calling something pretty denies that it has substance. The sneer often sits in pretty little. Time (1962) reports Tories mocking Liberal leaders as peddlers "with a pretty little trinket for every taste." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Time published the cited report in 1962. content.time.com
   • The report describes Tories mocking Liberal leaders as peddlers and contains the exact quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
5. 5
   dress upverbtransitive

   To make something pretty; to beautify or improve the appearance of.

   Before the guests arrived, she found time to pretty up the plain cake with fresh berries and powdered sugar.

   Before listing the apartment, they prettied it up with fresh paint, new curtains, and a bowl of lemons on the counter.

   UsageUsually pretty up something. Spelling: prettied, pretties, but prettying.

   Similarbeautify, decorate, adorn, embellish

   Oppositemar, spoil

   Note

   Eric Knight's Lassie Come-Home shows the -ing form, with someone on the hearth rug "prettying the dog's coat." The verb is now heard most often with up, as when people pretty up a room, a cake, or themselves. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Eric Knight wrote Lassie Come-Home. fadedpage.com
   • The novel uses "prettying the dog's coat" to describe someone sitting on the hearth rug; the character is Joe. fadedpage.com
6. 6
   darlingnouncountable

   An attractive person; also an affectionate term of address to someone good-looking.

   Don't cry, my pretty, everything will be just fine.

   'Hello, my pretties!' Grandpa called as the twins ran up the path to his porch.

   Similarbeauty, darling, dear, sweetheart

   Note

   Most at home as a term of address after my, where it can sound fond or, in the wrong mouth, sinister. The line "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!" from The Wizard of Oz (1939) shows how easily the endearment turns menacing. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939. catalog.afi.com
   • The quoted line occurs in the film; its speaker is the Wicked Witch of the West. en.wikipedia.org
7. 7
   adjectivedated

   Moderately large; considerable in amount or extent.

   The wedding ended up costing them a pretty penny.

   "What did you do to your hair?" The answer could be worth a pretty penny for L'Oreal.

   2004, “Because They're Worth it”, in Time

   UsageNow mainly in a pretty penny: cost, make, or save a pretty penny. Outside this phrase, considerable often sounds more natural.

   Similartidy, handsome, considerable, hefty, substantial

   Oppositepaltry, meager, small

   Note

   Dated on its own, but alive in one phrase: a pretty penny, meaning a large sum, which Time could still use in 2004. Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy shows the freer older use, with a madness that lasted "a pretty season." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • A pretty penny means a large sum of money. en.wiktionary.org
   • Time used a pretty penny in 2004. time.com
   • Robert Burton wrote The Anatomy of Melancholy. gutenberg.org
   • The Anatomy of Melancholy describes madness lasting a pretty season, using those exact words. gutenberg.org
8. 8
   small ornamentnouncountable

   A thing that is pretty, especially a small ornament or decoration.

   At the craft fair she spent far too much on pretties for the Christmas tree, from glass birds to tiny felt stars.

   My aunt's shelves are crowded with little pretties she has picked up on her travels.

   UsageMost often plural, with a playful tone: little pretties for the tree.

   Similartrinket, bauble, ornament, decoration

   Note

   The plural, pretties, carries a playful, almost childlike tone. Anything that catches the eye can be one, even the gleaming blades in a knife shop. Most often, though, the word names trinkets, baubles and small decorations.

9. 9
   like a girladjectivederogatoryUK

   Of a man or boy: effeminate, often used disparagingly.

   His mates called him pretty whenever he fussed over his hair.

   The sergeant sneered that the new recruit looked far too pretty for the army.

   Similareffeminate, girly

   Oppositemanly, masculine, rugged

   Note

   A British use aimed at men and boys, and one to handle with care. It is sometimes meant as a jibe at a lack of masculinity, though not always as an insult. Its sting comes from carrying the "attractive" sense, usually said of women and children, over to a male subject.

10. 10
    adjectivedated

    Excellent, commendable, or pleasing; fitting and proper, said of actions or thoughts.

    Similarfine, admirable, commendable, fitting, excellent

    Note

    Jane Austen's Emma (1815) shows the construction that marks it. A naming was "very pretty of her," praising the person through the act. Saki still uses the sense in his story "Hyacinth," of a new fashion in electioneering. It now sounds dated, and a modern reader may mistake it for the ironic use. Kind of her or fitting is the safer modern choice. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Jane Austen wrote Emma, first published in 1815 despite its 1816 title-page date. en.wikipedia.org
    • Emma contains “very pretty of her” as praise for a naming decision; Mr. Woodhouse says it about Isabella naming her eldest son Henry. gutenberg.org
    • Saki's “Hyacinth” uses pretty approvingly of a new electioneering fashion, in dialogue spoken by Mrs. Panstreppon. gutenberg.org
11. 11
    skillfuladjective

    Cunning or clever; skillful and adept.

    That was a pretty shot, curled right into the top corner of the net.

    The detective cracked the case with a pretty bit of reasoning, tracing the thief from a single muddy footprint.

    Similarclever, cunning, crafty, skillful, adept

    Oppositeclumsy, inept

    Note

    Closest of all the senses to the word's roots: Old English prættig meant crafty or cunning. What it admires is skill shown in action. George Hesekiel's Bismarck biography, in English from 1870, describes a clean kill across a chasm as "a very pretty shot." The test for telling it apart is simple: the praise is for how something was done, not for how it looks. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Pretty derives from Old English prættig, meaning crafty or cunning, supporting the connection with the clever or skillful sense. en.wiktionary.org
    • George Hesekiel's Bismarck biography appeared in English in 1870. en.wikipedia.org
    • The biography contains “a very pretty shot” describing a first-shot kill across a chasm; the words occur in a letter by Bismarck. gutenberg.org
12. 12
    gracefullyadverbdialectal

    In a pretty or graceful manner; prettily.

    She writes pretty, with neat loops on every letter.

    The bird sang pretty all through the early morning.

    UsageStandard English says prettily: she sings prettily. Sings pretty well means fairly well, not beautifully.

    Similargracefully, nicely, sweetly, beautifully

    Note

    A dialect adverb that follows its verb: "The boy sings pretty, don't he, Master Marner?" asks Dolly Winthrop in George Eliot's Silas Marner (1861). Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • George Eliot wrote Silas Marner, first published in 1861. en.wikisource.org
13. 13
    adjective

    Of code or data: formatted according to commonly accepted style and syntax conventions, for the sake of readability.