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Pretty
Definitions
- 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 Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty. derogatory, often
"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 Effeminate. UK, derogatory, sometimes
- 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 […]."
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- 6 Moderately large; considerable. dated
"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 Excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.). dated
"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 Awkward, unpleasant, bad. ironic
""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.
- 1 pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing wordnet
- 2 (used ironically) unexpectedly bad wordnet
- 1 Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very. not-comparable
"They are proud, and vveare their hayre pretty long, and about their criſpes vvreath a valuable Shaſh or Tulipant; […]"
- 2 Prettily, in a pretty manner. dialectal, not-comparable
"'The boy sings pretty, don't he, Master Marner?'"
- 1 to certain extent or degree wordnet
- 1 A surname.
- 2 Alternative form of Preeti; A female given name from Sanskrit. alt-of, alternative
- 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."
- 1 To make pretty; to beautify
"He sat on the hearth rug and began prettying the dog's coat."
Etymology
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.
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.
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.
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.
From Sanskrit प्रीति (prīti).
See also for "pretty"
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