adj

pretty

PRIHT-ee

adj

Attractive or pleasant to look at, especially in a delicate or charming way.

"They planted a pretty flower garden along the front path."

"She wore a pretty blue dress to the party."

adv

Fairly or quite, used to soften or moderate a statement.

"I'm pretty sure I left my keys at home."

"The movie was pretty good, but not amazing."

How to Use Pretty

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishEither "attractive" (adjective) or "fairly/quite" as a softening word before another adjective.

Memory tip

As an adverb before an adjective, "pretty" doesn't mean attractive at all — "pretty tired" just means "fairly tired."

Trace the full origin ↓

Common pairings

pretty good pretty much a pretty face

prettier comparative, prettied past tense, pretties plural, Prettys plural, pretties singular, prettiest superlative

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Can you complete this real example?

They planted a _____ flower garden along the front path.

From Old English prættig, "cunning, sly, tricky" — the sense shifted over time from "clever" to "attractive," similar to how "cute" developed.

ugly

beautiful attractive ugly

petty hetty betty jetty Letty Getty Shetty

ugly beautiful attractive