- Prettiest
- 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. [1913 Webster]
2. Moderately large; considerable; as, he had saved a pretty fortune. ``Wavering a pretty while.'' --Evelyn. [1913 Webster]
3. Affectedly nice; foppish; -- used in an ill sense. [1913 Webster]
The pretty gentleman is the most complaisant in the world. --Spectator. [1913 Webster]
4. Mean; despicable; contemptible; -- used ironically; as, a pretty trick; a pretty fellow. [1913 Webster]
5. Stout; strong and brave; intrepid; valiant. [Scot.] [1913 Webster]
[He] observed they were pretty men, meaning not handsome. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
Syn: Elegant; neat; fine. See {Handsome}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
