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prettier

 

  1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  This  is  the  prettiest  lowborn  lass  that  ever  Ran  on 
  the  greensward.  --Shak. 
 
  2.  Moderately  large  considerable;  as  he  had  saved  a  pretty 
  fortune.  ``Wavering  a  pretty  while.''  --Evelyn. 
 
  3.  Affectedly  nice;  foppish;  --  used  in  an  ill  sense 
 
  The  pretty  gentleman  is  the  most  complaisant  in  the 
  world.  --Spectator. 
 
  4.  Mean  despicable;  contemptible;  --  used  ironically;  as  a 
  pretty  trick;  a  pretty  fellow. 
 
  5.  Stout;  strong  and  brave;  intrepid;  valiant.  [Scot.] 
 
  [He]  observed  they  were  pretty  men,  meaning  not 
  handsome.  --Sir  W. 
  Scott. 
 
  Syn:  Elegant;  neat;  fine.  See  {Handsome}.




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