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Pretty

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pretty¹

  • /ˈpɹɪt.i/ UK
  • /ˈpɹɪt.i/ Canada, US
  • [ˈpɹɪɾ.i] Canada, US
  • [ˈpʰɹɪt̚tʰi] Canada, US, emphatic
  • /ˈpɜɹ.ti/ US, dialectal
  • /ˈpɹʊt.i/ US, rare
  • /ˈpɔɪ.ti/ US, dated, humorous
  • /ˈpɹɪt.i/ Australia
  • [ˈpɹɪɾ.i] Australia
  • /ˈpɹət.i/ New Zealand
  • [ˈpɹə̞ɾ.i] New Zealand
  • /ˈprɪʈ.i/ India
  • [pɾɪʈ(ː)iˑ] India

Rhymes with -ɪti

Where it comes from

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.

adjective prettier · prettiest · pooty · purdy · purty · pratty

  1. Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children. Having brought it to a close, he took his way to the Kursaal. The great German watering-place is one of the prettiest nooks in Europe, and of a summer evening in the gaming days, five-and-twenty years ago, it was one of the most brilliant scenes.
  2. Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing. Some fans may have mistaken the album’s floatiness for aimlessness, but Mr. Mercer’s songs have never been sneakier, or prettier.
  3. derogatory, often Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty. Damned by the Socialists as "traitors to the working class," its leaders were decried by Tories as "faceless peddlers of politics with a pretty little trinket for every taste."
  4. UK, derogatory, sometimes Effeminate.
  5. Cunning; clever, skilful. In the end, however, it was a very pretty shot, right across the chasm; killed first fire, and the brute fell headlong into the brook […].
  6. dated Moderately large; considerable. they flung all the goods in the house out at the windows into the street, or into the sea, as they supposed; thus they continued mad a pretty season […].
  7. dated Excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.). Some people are surprised, I believe, that that the eldest was not [named after his father], but Isabella would have him named Henry, which I thought very pretty of her.
  8. ironic Awkward, unpleasant, bad. "Nay, not I; it is a pretty thing to expect me to wash them; you may take them back again, and say, as Sally had them before, she may wash them now, for me; I am not going to be 'Jack at a pinch,' I can tell you."
  9. Matching commonly accepted principles of formatting and syntax, for the sake of readability.

adverb pooty · purdy · purty · pratty · prettie · pretie

  1. not comparable Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very. They are proud, and vveare their hayre pretty long, and about their criſpes vvreath a valuable Shaſh or Tulipant; […]
  2. dialectal, not comparable Prettily, in a pretty manner. 'The boy sings pretty, don't he, Master Marner?'

noun pretties · pooty · purdy · purty · pratty · prettie

  1. A pretty person; a term of address to a pretty person. I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!
  2. Something that is pretty. We'll stop at the knife store and look at the sharp pretties.

verb pretties · prettying · prettied · pooty · purdy

  1. To make pretty; to beautify He sat on the hearth rug and began prettying the dog's coat.

Pretty²

proper noun Prettys

  1. A surname.

Pretty³

Where it comes from

From Sanskrit प्रीति (prīti).

proper noun Prettys

  1. alternative Alternative form of Preeti; A female given name from Sanskrit.Preeti

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