Prettier

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pretty \Pret"ty\, a. [Compar. {Prettier}; superl. {Prettiest}.]
     [OE. prati, AS. pr[ae]ttig, pr[ae]tig, crafty, sly, akin to
     pr[ae]t, pr[ae]tt, deceit, trickery, Icel. prettugr tricky,
     prettr a trick; probably fr. Latin, perhaps through Celtic;
     cf. W. praith act, deed, practice, LL. practica execution,
     practice, plot. See {Practice}.]


     1. Pleasing by delicacy or grace; attracting, but not
        striking or impressing; of a pleasing and attractive form
        a color; having slight or diminutive beauty; neat or
        elegant without elevation or grandeur; pleasingly, but not
        grandly, conceived or expressed; as, a pretty face; a
        pretty flower; a pretty poem.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              This is the prettiest lowborn lass that ever
              Ran on the greensward.                --Shak.
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     2. Moderately large; considerable; as, he had saved a pretty
        fortune. "Wavering a pretty while." --Evelyn.
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     3. Affectedly nice; foppish; -- used in an ill sense.
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              The pretty gentleman is the most complaisant in the
              world.                                --Spectator.
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     4. Mean; despicable; contemptible; -- used ironically; as, a
        pretty trick; a pretty fellow.
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     5. Stout; strong and brave; intrepid; valiant. [Scot.]
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              [He] observed they were pretty men, meaning not
              handsome.                             --Sir W.
                                                    Scott.
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     Syn: Elegant; neat; fine. See {Handsome}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  pretty
       adj 1: pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing; "pretty girl";
              "pretty song"; "pretty room"
       2: (used ironically) unexpectedly bad; "a pretty mess"; "a
          pretty kettle of fish"
       adv : used as an intensifier (`jolly' is used informally in
             Britain); "pretty big"; "pretty bad"; "jolly decent of
             him" [syn: {jolly}]
       [also: {prettied}, {prettiest}, {prettier}]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  prettier
       See {pretty}