Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Pretty

Definition: Pretty

Pretty

Adjective

1. Pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing; "pretty girl"; "pretty song"; "pretty room".

2. (used ironically) unexpectedly bad; "a pretty mess"; "a pretty kettle of fish".

Adverb

1. Intensifier, as in "pretty big"; "pretty bad"; (`jolly' is used informally in Britain as in "jolly decent of him").

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "pretty" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references)

Note: Pretty \Pret"ty\, adjective. [Comparative Prettier; superlative Prettiest.]. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: Pretty

DomainDefinition

Tips from 1870

Usage: Pretty, Very. Pretty is often incorrectly used in the sense of very or moderately, as "He was pretty badly hurt," "He is a pretty good scholar," "She is pretty wealthy," "Thomas is pretty ugly." So common is this provincialism in some localities that the incongruity of such an expression as the last would pass undiscovered. Source: Slips of Speech.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Synonym: Pretty

Synonym: jolly (adv). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Pretty

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Beauty

Adjective: beautiful, beauteous; handsome; gorgeous; pretty; lovely, graceful, elegant, prepossessing; attractive; (inviting); delicate, dainty, refined; fair, personable, comely, seemly; bonny; good-looking; well-favored, well-made, well-formed, well-proportioned; proper, shapely; symmetrical; (regular); harmonious; (color); sightly.

Greatness

Greatly; Adjective: much, muckle, well, indeed, very, very much, a deal, no end of, most, not a little; pretty, pretty well; enough, in a great measure, richly; to a large extent, to a great extent, to a gigantic extent; on a large scale; so; never so, ever so; ever so dole; scrap, shred, tag, splinter, rag, much; by wholesale; mighty, powerfully; with a witness, ultra, in the extreme, extremely, exceedingly, intensely, exquisitely, acutely, indefinitely, immeasurably; beyond compare, beyond comparison, beyond measure, beyond all bounds; incalculably, infinitely.

Imperfection

Adverb: almost; to a limited extent, rather; pretty, moderately, passing; only, considering, all things considered, enough.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Pretty

English words defined with "pretty": almond, American cowslip, Amygdalus communis, Austrocedrus chilensisbetter-looking, break, By and byChilean cedar, Climbing fumitory, cover girl, crimper, curlerdemurely, dinky, do upErigeron philadelphicusFetis, fine-lookinggood, good-lookinghair curler, handsome, head, heather bellInconyJeffersonia, Judas treelicked, lovelyNit grass, Notwithstanding thatout of focuspass, Philadelphia fleabane, picturesque, pin-up, prettily, pretty much, Prettyish, Prettyism, pretty-pretty, Prunus amygdalus, Prunus dulcisQuaker ladiesroller, rosebud, rue anemonesidle, spring beauty, straits, sweet almondThe quality, To do the handsome thing, Tretys, Twin flowerunfocused, unfocussedwell, well-favored, well-favoured. (references)
Specialty definitions using "pretty": AwfulBeaux Yeux, BED-MAKER, Bells, bit bashing, BrownistsCleaned Out, Common Lisp, Cool Card, Cross, cybercrudDECtape, DIMPLEFirst Stroke is Half the BattleHeartINFANCY, International Data Encryption Algorithm, Intersil 6100Jeunesse DoreeKick Up a Row, Kingdom Come, Kittle of FishLAN party, Laundry, Ligurian Republic, Lord FannyNectar, Nimini PiminiO'asis, OutPacket InterNet Groper, PANS, PGP, Phynnodderee, PITMAN, Pretty Amazing New Stuff, Pretty Good Privacy, pretty pictures, Prince Rupert's Drops, Privacy Enhanced Mailrat dance, Red Cap, REMINGTONSnakes in his Boots, So nice, social science number, spiffy, storytortoise, turkeyVery. (references)
Etymologies containing "pretty": Villanella. (references)

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Modern Usage: Pretty

DomainUsage

Screenplays

Janie's a pretty typical teenager (American Beauty; writing credit: Alan Ball)

Yeah. Well, that sounds like a pretty good deal (The Matrix; writing credit: Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski.)

Oh. Because you know, it seems to me that, aside from being a little mentally ill, she's pretty normal (Benny & Joon; writing credit: Barry Berman)

Yeah, Lina, you looked pretty good for a girl (Singin' in the Rain; writing credit: Betty Comden; Adolph Green)

You were pretty good with that hook (Tomorrow Never Dies; writing credit: Bruce Feirstein)

Lyrics

Hey pretty mama (Pretty Girl; performing artist: Jon B.)

Some sweet day I'll make her mine pretty flamingo (Pretty Flamingo; performing artist: Manfred Mann)

Oh, oh, pretty woman ("Oh Pretty Woman"; performing artist: Roy Orbison)

And the girls say I'm pretty fly for a white guy (Pretty Fly; performing artist: The Offspring)

At how pretty and high and shy she was (Pretty and High; performing artist: The Roches)

Clever

Pretty ugly (references; author: unknown)

Money will buy you a pretty good dog, but it won't buy the wag of his tail. (references; author: unknown)

Movie/TV Titles

Pretty Wet Lips (1974)

Poor Pretty Eddy (1973)

Pretty Peggy Scream (1973)

The Pretty Things (1969)

Pretty Poison (1968)

Song Titles

Pretty Girl (performing artist: Jon B.)

Pretty Flamingo (performing artist: Manfred Mann)

Pretty And High (performing artist: The Roches)

Pretty Woman (performing artist: Roy Orbison)

OH, PRETTY WOMAN  (performing artist: Roy Orbison )

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Pretty

DomainTitle

Books

  • Disney Princess: Royal Rooms and Pretty Places: Book and Stickers (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Theater & Movies

  

Music

  

Consumer Goods

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Pretty

Photos:
Pretty

More pictures...

Illustrations:
Pretty

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Pretty

More pictures...

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Photo Album: Pretty

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

"Pretty Waves" (hi-res movie) by Tom Tredon. This is just one small clip from the movie. Use DPGraph's Scrollbar to vary A (the speed) and B (the whole graph's amplitude).

A pretty view of the Agua Fria River with a Tree to the left of the shot. Credit: Beth Perault.

A pretty landscape shot in the Agua Fria National Monument with some yellow wildflowers in the foreground. Credit: Chris Tincher.

Time (the warder) to the visiting centuries: I've seen some pretty bad cases in my time, but this one beats them all. Credit: Library of Congress.

As a man he was a complete failure, but as a gull -- well he believed he might have been a pretty decent -- gull. Credit: Library of Congress.

Not a pretty picture for the other states. Credit: Library of Congress.

And when the pie is opened and the birds begin to sign [sic] isn't that a pretty dish to set before the king / Bart. Credit: Library of Congress.

A pretty little water carrier of upper Egypt. Credit: Library of Congress.

"However, we've been pretty successful in keeping American newspapermen out of China" / Herblock. Credit: Library of Congress.

A Pretty spot on Belle Isle. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Digital Photo Gallery: Pretty
 

"Pretty Girl" by Klaus Cerfontaine
Commentary: "Young girl in front of an appletree."
"Pretty eyes" by Kevin Rohr
Commentary: "Little Dominican girl watches cautiosly."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

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Familiar Quotations: Pretty

AuthorQuotation

Joseph Addison

Arguments out of a pretty mouth are unanswerable.

Josh Billings

Money will buy a pretty good dog but it won't buy the wag of his tail.

Oliver Goldsmith

It seemed to me pretty plain, that they had more of love than matrimony in them.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Pretty much all the honest truth telling there is in the world is done by children.

Oscar Wilde

Crying is the refuge of plain women but the ruin of pretty ones.

Philip Johnson

We do pretty much whatever we want to.

Senator Everett M. Dirksen

A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.

Seneca

But it is a pretty thing to see what money will do!

Thomas Moore

A pretty wife is something for the fastidious vanity of a rouT to retire upon.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Historic Usage: Pretty

AuthorDateQuotation

Communist Manifesto

1848

Nevertheless in the most advanced countries, the following will be pretty generally applicable. (reference)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Use in Literature: Pretty

TitleAuthorQuote

Emma

Austen, Jane

Her observation had been pretty correct

Maggie's Visit to Oxford

Carroll, Lewis

In Magdalen Park the deer are wild With joy, that Maggie brings Some bread a friend had given the child, To feed the pretty things

A Christmas Carol

Dickens, Charles

We knew pretty well that we were helping ourselves, before we met here, I believe

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Douglas Adams

The planet has - or rather had- a problem, which was this: most of the people on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

She put on a little round cap which concealed her shorn head, and with that she was still pretty.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Joyce, James

The first arts men are pretty sure

King Richard III

Shakespeare, William

I prithee, pretty York, who told thee this

Grapes of Wrath

Steinbeck, John

Pretty girl on tire cover, painted in color and named Cora

Gulliver's Travels

Swift, Jonathan

I passed the night under the shelter of a rock, strowing some heath under me, and slept pretty well

Walden

Thoreau, Henry David

Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Pretty

SubjectTopicQuote

Business

They are therefore pretty hard to impress with the latest international trends -- they expect them. They are also discerning customers, looking for value for money. (references)

Worker Rights

Guatemala

Usually traffickers choose pretty girls that belong to poor families. (references)

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

TURKEY, n. A large bird whose flesh when eaten on certain religious anniversaries has the peculiar property of attesting piety and gratitude. Incidentally, it is pretty good eating.

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Spoken Usage: Pretty

SpeakerPhrase(s)

Ann Richards

Well, Gephardt, interestingly enough is going to look like he's doing pretty well because Iowa is that early primary.

Dennis Miller

I'm pretty sure the Donner party wasn't even that misguided.

Jack Hanna

They're pretty fast. By the way, the chinchilla is almost extinct in the wild. We have thousands of them in captivity.

Laura Bush

We discussed early on, months ago what we wanted the Christmas to be like, and I thought this would be a really pretty hallway.

Martha Stewart

Yeah, you can go to MarthaStewart.com. Go to Martha's Flowers, and order to your heart's delight. They are really pretty.

Prince Albert of Monaco

Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, Caroline is not in Monaco all the time, so we see her, you know, pretty regularly.

Rush Limbaugh

The Democrats have traditionally been pretty good at covering up who they really are.

William Shatner

It's stunning. I don't know where the power switch is on the computer. I'm pretty ignorant about the technology.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Speeches: Pretty

SpeakerTermPhrase(s)

George Bush

1989-1993Ask American parents what they dislike about how things are going in our country, and chances are good that pretty soon they'll get to welfare.

Bill Clinton

1993-2001When it's all said and done, it's pretty simple to me.

George W. Bush

2001-2005I felt we were pretty competent in the state of Texas to run our own schools.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Usage Frequency: Pretty

"Pretty" is generally used as an adverb (general) -- approximately 75.77% of the time. "Pretty" is used about 5,579 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Adverb (general)75.77%4,2282,327
Adjective (general or positive)24.21%1,3515,887
Noun (proper)0.02%1339,140
                    Total100.00%5,579N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Name Usage Frequency: Pretty

The following table summarizes the usage of "pretty" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified.
NameUsage/GenderUsage per 100
million Persons
Rank in USA
PrettyLast name40018,985
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Expressions: Pretty

Expressions using "pretty": a pretty kettle of fish a pretty kettle of fish! a pretty pass a pretty penny be at pretty pass be in a pretty mess be sitting pretty feel pretty sure of here is a pretty mess here's a pretty business! here's a pretty mess! lead a pretty dance my pretty pretty Amazing New Stuff pretty as a picture Pretty Bayou pretty big pretty bobbish pretty boy pretty cold pretty face pretty girl pretty Good Privacy pretty kettle of fish pretty maid pretty much pretty much the same pretty pictures pretty piece of business pretty piece of work Pretty Prairie pretty scenery pretty story pretty up pretty well pretty woman she is doing pretty good she is pretty sitting pretty that is a pretty business! this a pretty kettle of fish!. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "pretty": pretty-baby, pretty-behaved, pretty-boy, pretty-face-and-big-tits-to-sell-the-record, pretty-little-feather-brained-only-good-for-one-thing-bimbo-know-nothing-woman's-head, pretty-pretties, pretty-pretty, Pretty-spoken.

Ending with "pretty": be pretty-pretty, least-pretty, None-so-pretty, postcard-pretty, pretty-pretty.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Pretty

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

pretty girl

1,998

pretty leg

112

pretty woman

1,849

pretty pix

105

pretty

1,070

pretty willie

100

pretty in pink

884

pretty fly for a white guy

89

pretty foot

410

all the pretty horse

86

pretty baby

272

pretty people

85

pretty good solitaire

240

pretty planet

85

pretty boy floyd

195

pretty pantie

84

prettiest of the pretty

193

background pretty

82

pretty boy

190

pretty planet.com

74

picture of pretty girl

184

i feel pretty

73

nude pretty

180

pretty tit

71

pretty pussy

169

pretty ass

68

pretty picture

160

feel i lyrics pretty

67

pretty toe

155

pretty woman lyrics

67

pretty lady

151

picture pretty woman

67

pretty face

149

pretty model

67

pretty girl make grave

147

pretty good privacy

65

pretty teen

137

pretty young girl

64

boy new pretty world

133

pretty woman soundtrack

63
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Pretty

Language Translations for "pretty"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Afrikaans

  

aardig. (various references)

   

Albanian

  

pothuaj (all but, almost, but, half and half, most, much, near, nearly, practically, quasi, scarcely, virtually, well nigh), tepër delikat, tërheqës (absorbing, absorptive, adorable, alluring, appealing, attractable, attractive, catchy, charismatic, comely, cunning, cute, drawer, dreamy, engaging, engrossing, enticing, fetching, interesting, inviting, jolly, likable, likeable, nice, personable, pleasing, showy, sightly, winsome), mjaft (come on, enough, fairly, noticeably, quite, quite a few, rather, reasonably, richly, Satis, sufficiently, that's enough, well), i mjaftë (due, enough, sufficient), i lezetshëm (agreeable, comely, cool, delicious, delightful, handsome, ingratiatingly, jolly, nice), i këndshëm (agreeable, beauteous, beautiful, delectable, delicious, dreamy, dulcet, entertaining, funny, good, good humoured, good tempered, good-humored, goodly, graceful, gracious, grateful, handsome, jocose, jocund, jolly, likable, likeable, lovely, nice, palatable, piquant, pleasant, Savory, savoury, smooth, soft, sweet, sympathetic), i bukur (airy fairy, beauteous, beautified, beautiful, bonny, good, good looking, goodly, handsome, lovely, nice, pinup, pleasant), goxha (good, lovely, nice, quite a lot, rather, well), gati (about, all but, almost, at hand, but, in line, in store, much, nearly, picked, practically, prepared, ready, scarcely, virtual, well nigh), e pashme. (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏فاتن (alluring, attractive, breathtaking, captivating, catching, charming, cute, darling, enchanting, engaging, entrancing, exquisite, fascinating, glamorous, glamourous, likely, lovely, magic, magical, mesmeric, personable, philanderer, picturesque, ravishing, seducer, spellbinding, stunning, superb, sweet, tempter, thrilling, winning, winsome, zestful), ‏مليح (beautiful, handsome, nice, pleasant), ‏لطيف (affable, agreeable, amiable, benign, bland, charming, civil, civilized, complaisance, complaisant, courteous, courtly, decent, delicate, fair, fair-spoken, fine, friendly, genial, gentle, good natured, gracious, handsome, kind, kindly, light, mild, nice, pet, pleasant, polite, poppet, refreshing, smooth, soft, suave, sweet, tender, tenuous, thin, urbane), ‏وسيم (bonny, comeliness, comely, cunning, dainty, dapper, encore, fair, good looking, goodly, handsome), ‏حسن (advantage, alter, ameliorate, amend, beautiful, better, elaborate, extend, fine, handsome, improve, innovate, like better, make efficient, ok, okay, okey, perfect, polish, reclaim, reform, season, upgrade, well), ‏جيد (fully, good, kindly, neck, perfect, prime, well), ‏جميل (beaut, beauteous, beautiful, comeliness, comely, courtesy, dainty, fair, favor, favour, fine, good looking, grace, graceful, gratitude, handsome, kind act, lovely, magnificent, nice, shapely, sightly, sweet), ‏جمل (beautify, bedeck, camel, conclude, embellish, enhance, finalize, garnish, improve, ornament, outline, precis, prettify, refine, smarten, sum up, summarize, totalize, varnish), ‏جسيم (gross, particle), ‏جذاب (allurement, alluring, appealing, attractive, becoming, captivating, catching, catchy, charming, cute, desirable, ducky, engaging, enticing, fascinating, fetching, fine, inviting, magnetic, magnetizing, nice, picturesquely, pleasant, prepossessing, seductive, sweet, taking, tasty), ‏ظريف (amiable, amicable, amusing, companionable, fine, flowing, gallant, humorist, humorous, humourist, jolly, likeable, nice, obliging, pet, pleasing, prepossessing, quaint, stylish, witty, wry), ‏بارع (able, accomplished, adroit, artful, bright, brilliant, capable, clever, crafty, cunning, dexterous, dextrous, educated, fancy, fiend, foxy, handsome, handy, ingenious, intelligent, masterful, masterly, neat, nice, skilful, skilled, skillful, smart, subtle, superior, sweet, very beautiful, witty, workmanlike, workmanly). (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

ловък (able, adroit, agile, artful, dodgy, handy, knacky, knowing, light fingered, natty, neat, neat-handed, peart, politic, shrewd, skilful, skillful, slick, swift-handed, tricksy, tricky, wary, whizbang), доста (considerably, distinctly, great deal, half, nice and, quite, rather, reasonably, some, somewhat, tolerably, well), доста много (quite a few), доста голям (considerable, goodly, marked, respectable, sizable, smart), привлекателен (alluring, appealing, attractive, catching, catchy, congenial, cute, debonair, desirable, engaging, enticing, fetching, ingratiating, interesting, inviting, lickerish, likable, likeable, likely, lovable, pleasing, prepossessing, seductive, sightly, taking, tempting, winsome, yummy), приятен (acceptable, agreeable, cheerful, clever, companionable, cozy, darling, easy, engaging, enjoyable, good, gracious, grateful, groovy, jocund, jolly, likable, likeable, likely, luscious, merry, musical, nice, nice-looking, not unwelcome, palatable, pleasant, pleasing, refreshing, rose colored, rose coloured, sapid, satisfying, savoury, soft, sweet, sympathetic, toothsome, welcome), добър (benign, fair, good, good natured, kind, kindly, lucky, nice, plummy, round, savoury, sound, tenderhearted, useful, warmhearted, well), пъргав (active, agile, alert, alive, deft, elastic, lissom, lithesome, lively, nifty, nimble, nippy, prompt, quick, ready, resilient, sinuous, smart, snappy, spring, spry, versatile, volatile, wanton, warm, whippy, zippy), сръчен (able, adroit, agile, crafty, cunning, deft, dexterous, dextrous, feat, handy, ingenious, knacky, knowing, light-handed, neat-handed, practised, skilful, skillful, smart, two-handed), галантен (gallant, sparkish), горе-долу (approximately, fairly, good enough, in the rough, indifferently, much, roughly, so so, sort of), горен украсен ръб на чаша, твърде (overly, rather, too), хубав (beautiful, bonny, fair, fine, good, good looking, goodly, handsome, jolly, neat, nice, nice-looking, personable, proper, rich, seemly, sightly, well favored, well-favoured), разкрасявам (beautify, dress up, embellish, embroider, furbish, gild, ornament, prettify), превзет (affected, cute, flamboyant, fussy, glossy, histrionic, lackadaisical, mannered, mincing, minikin, namby-pamby, nice, niminy-piminy, old-maidish, pansy, precious, pretentious, pretty-pretty, priggish, prim, prissy, pseudo, recherche, schoolmistressy, sidy, snobbish, stuffy). (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

相当 (Fairly, Quite), 漂亮 (beautiful), (clever, place where supreme bestows books), (cunning), (fascinating). (various references)

   

Czech

  

pìkný (fine, good looking, handsome, nice, nice-looking, specious), roztomilý (amiable, appealing, charming, cute, darling, lovable, lovely, pleasing, refreshing, sweet), hezký (attractive, considerable, fair, fine, good, good looking, gorgeous, handsome, nice, nice-looking, personable), hezká, dosti (enough, rather), do jisté míry. (various references)

   

Danish

  

køn (sex). (various references)

   

Dutch

  

aardig (affable, amusing, dainty, entertaining, fair, fairly, friendly, funny, good-natured, kind, nice, rather, relatively, tidy). (various references)

   

Esperanto

  

beleta, amabla (dainty, kind, nice). (various references)

   

Faeroese

  

fittur. (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

قشنگ کردن (Adorn), قشنگ (Beauteous, Beautiful, Cheesy, Pert, Spruce, Sprucy), تاحدی (Cretain, Kindof, Partly, Somewhat), خوش نما (Glossy, Showy), خوب (Fine, Good, Nice, Okay, Super, Well), اراستن (Apparel, Arrange, Array, Attire, Brave, Clothe, Embroider, Equip, Grace, Groom, Habit, Illustrate, Line, Perk, Prim, Primp, Prune, Range, Rank, Stud, Tidy, Trim), شکیل (Shapely), بطوردلپذیر (Seemly). (various references)

   

Finnish

  

sorea (graceful, handsome), soma (cute, dainty, neat, nice, sweet), sievä (attractive, cute, handsome). (various references)

   

French

  

joli (precious), mignon. (various references)

   

French Canadian

  

jolie. (various references)

   

Frisian

  

skoan. (various references)

   

German

  

ziemlich (a little, almost, comparatively, considerable, enough, fair, fairly, fitting, most, nearly, proper, quite, rather, reasonable, reasonably, relatively, sizable, sizeable, some, somewhat, sufficient, sufficiently, to some extent, tolerably), hübsch (beautiful, bonnie, bonny, comely, delightful, fair, fine, handsome, lovely, neat, neatly, nice, nice-looking, nifty, tidy, trim), nett (cute, cutely, fair, kind, kindly, lovely, natty, neat, neatly, nice, nice-looking, nicely, pleasant, prettily, tidy). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

αρκετά (considerableably, considerably, enough, fairly, quite, rather, reasonably, sufficiently). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

יפהפה (beauteous, lovely), יפה (appropriately, beautiful, beautifully, comely, fair, finely, good looking, handsome, lovely, nice, picturesque, right, well), למדי (enough, fairly, quite, somewhat, sufficiently), חמוד (cute, dainty, delightful, lovable, lovely, sweet), במדת מה (in a way, partly, rather, sort of), נחמד (adorable, charming, cute, dainty, delightful, desirable, lovely, mellow, nice, pleasant), נאה (comely, dwelling, fine, habitation, handsome, meadow, natty, nice, pasture, personable, pleasant, presentable, seemly, sightly). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

csinos (bonnie, bonny, compt, crackajack, crackerjack, crummy, cunning, cute, dolly, easy on the eye, easy to look at, foxy, good looking, handsome, have good looks, natty, neat, nice-looking, nifty, personable, proper, seemly, she's got it, sightly, Spruce, tidy, tight, tricksy, trig), szép (beautiful, fair, fine, good, handsome, lovely, nice, nice-looking), eléggé (enough, fairly, plenty, pretty much, quite, rather, sufficiently, to underrate). (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

permai (beautiful, ornate, scenic), gelis (lovely), cantik (beautiful, comely, dainty, lief, lovely), ayu (beautiful). (various references)

   

Irish

  

deas (nice). (various references)

   

Italian

  

grazioso (affable, bonny, charming, dinky, friendly, good-natured, graceful, gracious, kind, lovable, lovely, neat, nice, pleasant, sweet), bellino (dinky), carino (affable, beautiful, cute, decent, dinky, fair, fine, friendly, good-natured, handsome, kind, lovable, lovely, nice, poppet, sweet). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

眩い (cute), 綺麗 (beautiful, clean, fair, nice, tidy), プラント輸出 (angrily, export of manufacturing plant, in a huff, in anger, plait, planner, planning, pleat, pleated skirt, pre-, pre-amplifier, preference, prefix, preprocessor, prerecording, preset, pretty-print, priest, prima ballerina, prima donna, primitive, primitive art, prince, Prince Edward Island, prince melon, princess, princess coat, principle, printer, prism, pudding), 愛らしい (charming, lovely), 奇麗 (beautiful, clean, fair, nice, tidy), 可愛い (charming, cute, darling, dear, lovely, pet). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

プリティ , きれい (beautiful, clean, fair, nice, tidy), まぶい (cute), かわいい (charming, cute, darling, dear, lovely, pet), かわゆい (charming, cute, darling, dear, lovely, pet), あいらしい (charming, lovely). (various references)

   

Korean 

  

매우 (Precious, ultra, Ultra-). (various references)

   

Malay

  

baik (affable, friendly, good-natured, kind), bagus. (various references)

   

Manx

  

bwoyagh (attractive, beauteous, beautiful, comely, handsome, lovely), bwaagh (beauteous, beautiful, comely, handsome, lovely), breagh (handsome). (various references)

   

Papiamen

  

nèchi, bunita (beautiful, fair, fine, handsome, lovely), amabel (dainty, kind, nice). (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

ettypray.(various references)

   

Polish

  

ładny (beautiful, fair, fine, handsome, lovely, pleasing). (various references)

   

Portuguese

  

lindo (beautiful, lovely), bonito (beautiful, dinky, fetching, fine, good, good-looking, handsome, lovely, nice, nice-looking). (various references)

   

Portuguese Brazilian

  

linda, bonita (beautiful). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

simpatic (attractive, attractively, congenial, inclination, ingratiating, kindly, likable, lovely, nice, nicely, pleasant, pleasing, prepossessing, shine, sympathetic), mare (acred, adult, ample, big, boundless, brine, broad, bulky, deep, dense, enormous, famous, fat, flux, foam, gorgeous, grand, grandiose, great, gross, hard, heavy, high, howling, huge, hulking, illustrious, immense, important, keen, king size, large, large scale, long, loose, major, man-sized, massy, mighty, open, pond, ponderous, renowned, rich, roomy, sea, sensible, severe, spacious, stupendous, tall, thick, thundering, vast, violent, voluminous, wide), lucruri frumoase, frumuşel (comely, dinky, gently, good looking, simply, slowly, tidy), frumos (artistic, artistical, beautiful, beautifully, bonny, brave, calm, canny, catchy, choice, clean, delicate, enjoyable, fair, fine, flowing, gay, generous, good, good looking, goodly, greatly, handsome, handsomely, lovely, merry, mild, neat, nice, nicely, personable, proper, settled, shapely, slowly, specious, well favored, well-favoured, well-featured), dråguţ, drãguţ (attractive, beloved, charming, comely, cute, dainty, darling, dinky, good looking, handsome, kind, lovable, lovely, nice, nice-looking, sweet, sweetheart), destul de (fairly, middling, moderately, nice and, passably), cam (a little, about, approximately, around, circa, rather, roundabout, some, somewhat, somewhere, thereabouts, to some extent), afectat (affected, affectedly, Arty, curious, demure, demurely, euphuistic, far fetched, finical, finicking, gushing, highfalutin, highfaluting, high-flown, lackadaisical, La-di-da, mannered, miminy-piminy, mincing, namby-pamby, niminy-piminy, preciously, primly, recherche, scenic, self conscious, stilted, studied, swollen, theatrical). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

хорошенький (comely, nice-looking, pinup), вполне (altogether, completely, fully, hollow, out and out, outright, perfectly, plenty, quite, richly, thoroughly, throughly, to a nicety), миленький (darling, dear), значительный (big, considerable, distinguish, epoch making, groundbreaking, handsome, humungous, important, of great importance, sizable, sizeable, tidy), прелестный (delectable, delicious, delightful, duck of, exquisite, jolly, lovely), приятный (agreeable, cuddly, cushy, dulcet, enjoyable, graceful, grateful, jolly, likable, nice, palatable, peachy, pleasant, pleasurable, prepossessing, satisfactory, simpatico, soft, sweet-tempered), привлекательный (alluring, appealing, attractive, beguiling, catching, cuddly, cunning, dinky, engaging, enticing, fetching, likable, likeable, lovable, lovely, nice-looking, quaint, snazzy, well-favoured, well-looking, winsome), изрядно красивый, довольно (fairly). (various references)

   

Scottish

  

bòidheach (beautiful). (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

prilično (plenty, quite, sufficiently), lepuškast (comely, good looking), lep (beauteous, beautiful, bonny, dreamy, fair, fine, goodly, handsome, nice, scenic, scenical). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

majo (bonny, good looking, natty, nice, nob, smart, toff), lindo (beautiful, bonny, charming, comely, cute, delightful, hairdo, lovely, nice, nice-looking, what, whatever), bonito (affable, beauteous, beautiful, charming, delightful, fair, fine, friendly, good-natured, handsome, kind, lovely, lustrous, nice), guapo (beautiful, comely, dandified, good looking, handsome, lazy, nice, nice-looking), amable (affable, agreeable, amiable, bland, charming, comradely, dainty, darling, decent, friendly, gentile, gentle, good, good-natured, helpful, kind, levely, likeable, lovable, neighborly, neighbourly, nice, pleasant, sympathetic, thankful). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

vacker (beautiful, comely, fair, fine, handsome, lovely, sightly, sweet, tidy, winsome), täck, söt (beloved, bonny, cute, darling, dear, expensive, gentle, lovely, soft, sweet, tender, valuable), någorlunda (a little, fairly, fairly good, in a fashion, moderately, passably, rather, some, somewhat, to some extent, tolerably), nätt (dainty, dapper, natty, neat, prettily, scantily, scanty, trim), näpen (engaging), ganska (enough, fairly, kind of, middling, plenty, quite, rather, reasonably, some, to a degree, tolerably, very). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

zarif (canny, classy, clever, courtly, dainty, Dandy, dandyish, dinky, dressy, elegant, go-go, graceful, gracious, natty, neat, pulchritudinous, recherche, sharp, stylish, sylphish, sylphlike, sylphy), sevimli (amiable, appealing, bonny, charming, cuddlesome, cuddly, cunning, cute, delectable, fair, likable, likeable, lovable, lovely, nice, pleasant, prettily, sapid, sympathetic, winning, winsome), oldukça (a bit of a, a good many, a whale of, fairly, good, quite, rather, reasonably, somewhat, spanking, substantially, well, well enough, whopping), nefís, hox (agreeable, enjoyable, gentle, lovely, nice, pleasant, soft, sweet, tender), hoş (affable, agreeable, beautiful, bonny, canny, charming, clean-cut, congenial, debonair, debonaire, delectable, delicious, delightful, desirable, elegant, enjoyable, fine, fragrant, handsome, jolly, kind, kindly, likable, likeable, lovable, lovely, nice, nicely, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, prettily, sapid, smart, smooth, suave, subtile, subtle, sweetly, tuneful, well, winning, winsome), hayli (a good many, a great many, considerable, much, plenty of), güzel (appealing, beauteous, beautiful, beautifully, beauty, Belle, bonny, comely, fair, fine, goluptious, good, good looking, goodly, handsome, lovely, nice, nifty, personable, pleasant, plummy, prettily, pulchritudinous, sapid, shapely, sightly, smart, swell, the beautiful, well, well favored, well-favoured, winsome), epeyce (fairly, goodly, just about, quite a few), cici (cute, dinky, popsy, popsy-wopsy), bayağı (banal, camp, cheap, coarse, coarse grained, common, common as dirt, commonplace, corrupt, dastardly, debased, goodish, inferior, lewd, little, low camp, low class, no class, ordinary, plebeian, prosaic, quite, rather, run-off-the-mill, shoddy, tawdry, tolerably, vulgar), çok (a great number of, a lot, a whale of, a whale of a lot, abounding, abundant, acres and acres, affluent, ample, awfully, badly, big, bloody, countless, damned, darned, dead, deadly, deeply, enormously, ever so, exuberant, fair, fantastically, galore, good, greatly, heaps of, heartily, hearty, heavily, heavy, hell, hell of, helluva, highly, innumerable, jolly, largely, lavish, like hell, loads of, lot, lots of, many, molto, more, much, multi-, multitudinous, numerous, over, piping, plenteous, plentiful, plenty, plenty of, poly-, precious, prodigal, profuse, rank, rattling, revoltingly, sadly, so, some, sorely, spanking, strongly, such, thundering, tidy, too, umpteen, umpteenth, umptieth, vast, vastly, very, well, whaling, whopping). (various references)

   

Turkmen 

  

telper (fine), gцzel (nice), gцrkana (nice, picturesque), eяjelik. (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

чарівний (admirable, adorable, alluring, amiable, appealing, basilisk, captivating, charming, compelling, darling, delicious, delightful, elfish, elvish, enchanted, enchanting, engaging, entrancing, fairy, fascinating, glamorous, glamourous, goluptious, ingratiating, lovely, magic, magical, orphean), гарненький (pin up), гарний (bonny, good, good looking, goodly, lovely, nice, nice-looking, well), милий (agreeable, darling, dear, decent, nice), значний (appreciable, considerable, gey, handsome, important, independent, intense, notable, respectable, smart, substantive, tidy), любий (beloved, chary, darling, dear, honey, lovable, own, precious), приємний (acceptable, agreeable, amiable, balmy, beautiful, boon, canny, clean-cut, complimentary, couth, cozy, cushy, delectable, dulcet, easy, enjoyable, glad, good, goodly, graceful, grateful, jocund, kindly, lepid, nice, nutty, palatable, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, prepossessing, redolent, satisfactory, tasty, welcome, yummy), прикраса (adornment, apparel, attire, beauty, bijou, decking, decoration, embellishment, embroidery, fallal, garnish, garniture, Nick nack, ornament, outset, quip, set off), дужий (beefy, bouncing, hard, hefty, iron, lusty, nervous, nervy, robust, strapping, stubbed), дрібничка (bauble, bibelot, gewgaw, knick knack, Nick nack, pinhead, pinpoint, toy, trinket), досить (amply, belay, deep, drop it, enough, fairly, nothing else, nuff, once, passable, plenty, relatively, say no more, something, sufficiently). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

xinh xinh (prettily, prettyish, pretty-pretty), xinh xắn (cute, dinky, prettily, well-favoured, well-looking), xinh đẹp hay hay (prettily), xinh (bonny, fine, lovely, nice-looking, prettily), thú vị (delectable, diverting, enjoyable, entertaining, merry, nicely, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, rorty), mạnh mẽ (boot, energetic, furious, fury, impetuous, lusty, manly, mightily, pithily, rousing, sinewy, sturdy, vibrant, violent, vivid), khá (enough), kha khá hầu như, hay (fine, grand, often, oftentimes, readable, stunning), gần như (virtually), gan dạ; cường tráng, cừ (bully, classy, elegant, famously, magnificent, posh, solid, spanking, spile), đẹp mắt đẹp, đồ trang hoàng xinh xinh, $my pretty$ con nhỏ của tôi. (various references)

   

Welsh

  

tlws (brooch, gem, jewel, quaint). (various references)

   

Zulu

  

-hle (beautiful, fair, fine, good, handsome, lovely, nice, okay). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Pretty

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Latin500 BCE-Modern

bellus. (various references)

Old French900-1400

cointe, jolif. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Pretty

Derivations

Words beginning with "pretty": prettying, prettyish. (additional references)

Words ending with "pretty": unpretty. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Pretty" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: bretty, Paretti, partty, Peretti, Pershti, perthy, perti, pertie, pertty, perty, pettey, petti, Porretta, pratty, Praty, preatty, preaty, Prechtl, Preddy, preetty, preety, Prentky, prenty, Prestt, pretie, Preto, prett, prety, priety, Priti, pritt, Prittie, Pritty, prity, proddy, Proetta, prott, Protta, prpety, Prunty, prutt, prutty, Pyett, retty. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "Pretty"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "pretty" (pronounced pri"tē)
4-r i" t ēgritty.
3-i" t ēbitty, Chitty, city, committee, Kitty, ditty, nitty, pity, subcommittee, witty.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

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Anagrams: Pretty

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "e-p-r-t-t-y"

-1 letter: petty.

-2 letters: pert, prey, pyre, tret, trey, tyer, type, tyre, yett.

-3 letters: per, pet, pry, pye, rep, ret, rye, tet, try, tye, yep, yet.

-4 letters: er, et, pe, re, ye.

 Words containing the letters "e-p-r-t-t-y"
 

+1 letter: pottery.

 

+2 letters: prettify, prettily, tapestry, unpretty.