Pret″ty (?), a. [Compar.Prettier (?); superl.Prettiest.] [OE. prati, AS. prættig, prætig, crafty, sly, akin to præt, prætt, 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.
observed they were pretty men, meaning not handsome. Sir W. Scott.
Syn. — Elegant; neat; fine. See Handsome.