pretty

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   To a fairly large degree; quite.

   The film was pretty good, but a bit too long.

2. 2
   adj

   Attractive and pleasant to look at.

   She wore a pretty blue dress to the party.

3. 3
   adj

   Nice-looking and appealing, used of objects or places.

   They live in a pretty little village by the sea.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Pretty is an Old English word from a root meaning “trick.” Its earliest sense was “cunning” or “crafty,” followed by meanings such as “clever,” “skilful,” “brave,” and “admirable”; the now-familiar sense “attractive” appeared in the 15th century. Its adverbial use meaning “fairly” or “moderately” dates from the mid-16th century.

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.

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary