Pretty

How to spell pretty

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce pretty

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does pretty mean?

1. adjectivePleasant or attractive to look at in a delicate or charming way.
2. adverbTo a fair or moderate degree; fairly or quite.

Pretty in a sentence

• adjective

  The cottage had a pretty garden full of roses.

• adverb

  The report was pretty thorough, though a few figures were missing.

• adjective

  She chose a pretty pattern for the curtains.

• adverb

  Traffic was pretty heavy on the drive home.

Where does pretty come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Pretty descends from the Old English word prættig, which originally meant 'cunning', 'crafty', or 'clever', and was built on prætt, a noun for a trick or a wile. For centuries the word carried a flavour of skill and ingenuity rather than beauty, so something 'pretty' was something cleverly made or artfully done. By the late Middle Ages the sense had drifted through 'clever' and 'fine' towards 'pleasing to look at', settling into the familiar meaning of attractive in a delicate or charming way. The adverbial use meaning 'fairly' or 'moderately' (as in 'pretty good') grew out of this idea of something being done in a fine or considerable degree and was common by the 1500s. The double 't' and the unexpected 'e' (not 'i' or 'u') trace straight back to that Old English prættig spelling, which is worth remembering since the word sounds like 'prit-ee'.

How the word is built

• pretty (from Old English prættig: cunning, crafty)
• -y already fused in the root