pretty
/prĭt′ē/
adjective
- Pleasing or attractive in a graceful or delicate way. synonym: beautiful.
- Clever; adroit. a pretty maneuver.
- Very bad; terrible. in a pretty predicament; a situation that has reached a pretty pass.
Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › us › grammar › british-grammar › pretty
Pretty - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary
Fairly Intensifiers (very, at all) Largely Much, a lot, lots, a good deal: adverbs Pretty Quite Rather Really Scarcely Very
Merriam-Webster
merriam-webster.com › dictionary › pretty
PRETTY Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback. Adjective Behind the pastry case out front, where pistachio pain suisse and chocolate-chunk cookies sit pretty, is a quiet, serious kitchen. —Sarah Blaskovich, Dallas Morning News, 9 Mar. 2026 Shaved vegetables almost look too pretty to eat. —Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 9 Mar. 2026 · Adverb Accessibility The property, set on a mountain, is pretty difficult to navigate by foot.
Test-English
test-english.com › explanations › b1+ grammar explanations › pretty, rather, quite, fairly – adverbs of degree
Pretty, Rather, Quite, Fairly – Adverbs of degree - Test-English
May 18, 2025 - Learn how to use 'pretty', 'rather', 'quite' and 'fairly' with our grammar explanation, grammar chart, and three practice exercises.
Dictionary.com
dictionary.com › browse › pretty
PRETTY Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
He writes pretty little stories.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/grammar › the use of “pretty”
r/grammar on Reddit: The use of “pretty”
December 17, 2021 -
Someone said “I pretty liked it.” How do I explain why that’s wrong? You can say I really liked but not pretty liked or very liked. How do I do explain this to a student?
Top answer 1 of 2
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It seems like they're trying to use the adverb definition of pretty here. But in this case, pretty cannot be used to directly describe a verb. It just doesn't work like that. "I liked it pretty much." Or "I liked it pretty well." Would be correct.
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I'm seeing online that "pretty" can be used as an adverb, but in all the examples I see, it's still an adjective. "He ran pretty fast," for example--"pretty" is an adjective describing "fast," not an adverb describing "ran." He didn't run "pretty." However, "pretty fast" is all together an adverbial phrase, but "pretty" functions as an adjective within that phrase. "Really," though, can definitely be an adverb, although this usage is a little slangy. One way to explain it is that an adverb frequently can answer the question How. How did he like the movie? "Really." Meaning "in reality." Again, slangy--substitute "totally" if you'd like--but it passes the test of being an adverb. "How did he like the movie?"/"Pretty" does not make sense as an exchange. According to Merriam-Webster, "prettily" is an acceptable adverbial form of the word, though that sounds a little awkward to me personally.
Vocabulary.com
vocabulary.com › dictionary › pretty
Pretty - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms | Vocabulary.com
Pretty has an adverb form that means something is present to a moderate degree, another way to say fairly. You might be pretty sure you’ll be done studying by 9:00. That means you’re fairly certain but not positive. ... DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources ...
WordHippo
wordhippo.com › what-is › the-adverb-for › pretty.html
What is the adverb for pretty?
Adverbs for pretty include prettily and pretty. Find more words at wordhippo.com!
Encyclopedia Britannica
britannica.com › dictionary › eb › qa › pretty-fairly-really-very-and-quite
Pretty, fairly, really, very, and quite | Britannica Dictionary
Fairly and pretty weaken the adverbs or adjectives that they modify. They tell you that the quality described by the adverb or adjective is present, but only to a limited extent, as shown in the examples below.
Speak Confident English
speakconfidentenglish.com › home › #211: pretty much, pretty sure meaning — use pretty as an adverb
Pretty Much, Pretty Sure Meaning — Use Pretty as an Adverb
July 14, 2021 - With pretty much, pretty sure, pretty upset, or pretty disappointed, the word ‘pretty’ is an adverb.
Encyclopedia Britannica
britannica.com › dictionary › pretty
Pretty Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary
[+] more examples [-] hide examples [+] Example sentences [-] Hide examples · /ˈprɪtəli/ adverb · She dresses/sings prettily. [+] more examples [-] hide examples [+] Example sentences [-] Hide examples ·
Oxford English Dictionary
oed.com › dictionary › pretty_adv
pretty, adv. meanings, etymology and more | Oxford English Dictionary
Etymons: pretty adj. ... The earliest known use of the adverb pretty is in the mid 1500s.
Collins Dictionary
collinsdictionary.com › dictionary › english › pretty
PRETTY definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
to pretty up a room SYNONYMS 1. See beautiful. 2–4. pleasant. 10. somewhat.ANTONYMS 1. ugly.USAGE The qualifying adverb pretty, meaning “fairly or moderately” has been in general use since the late 16th century.
Published March 20, 2018
Promova
promova.com › what-part-of-speech › pretty
What part of speech is the word pretty? — Promova
He gave her a pretty bouquet of flowers. ... It's essential to differentiate between the adjectival and adverbial uses. For instance, 'a pretty dress' (adjective) vs.
Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › us › dictionary › english › pretty
PRETTY | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
PrettyWe can use pretty as an adverb, before an adjective or another adverb, meaning ‘quite, but not extremely’. It is informal: …
Engoo
engoo.com › app › words › word › pretty › zga0ELstQmCjlQAAAAB7-Q
pretty (【Adverb】moderately or very ) Meaning, Usage, and ...
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WordReference
forum.wordreference.com › other language forums › etymology, history of languages, and linguistics (ehl)
Origin of "pretty" as slang for "somewhat" | WordReference Forums
April 2, 2020 - In French, as in my native Catalan, the words beau bel belle (bell bella), which mean "beautiful, pretty" can also have sometimes a quantitative meaning. ... In Persian qašang "beautiful" can be used as an adverb to intensify "clearness", like قشنگ معلومه/قشنگ مشخصه which can perhaps be translated as "pretty clear/evident".
WordType
wordtype.org › of › pretty
What type of word is 'pretty'? Pretty can be an adverb, a noun, a verb or an adjective - Word Type
pretty can be used as a adverb in the sense of "somewhat, fairly, quite;" or "somewhat, fairly;" pretty can be used as a noun in the sense of "Something that is pretty." pretty can be used as a verb in the sense of "To make pretty; to beautify" pretty can be used as a adjective in the sense of "Cunning; clever, skilful." or "Pleasant in sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children." or "Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing." or "Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance." or "Moderately large; considerable." or "
Top answer 1 of 4
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It depends on intonation. With a certain, emphatic intonation, Tom looks pretty tired can mean "Tom looks very tired; indeed, his level of tiredness is remarkable." With ordinary intonation, it just means "Tom is moderately tired—tired enough to matter, but his level of tiredness is not especially remarkable."
The emphatic intonation that I have in mind drags out each syllable of pretty to an equally long length, about as long as the word tired. The pitches go something like E D C, like "Three blind mice". Of course, there are many other kinds of intonations and emphasis that a person could give the words, suggesting many different kinds of tiredness, and there is no precise, standardized code. You just improvise.
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In written text it isn't easy to tell whether the intended implication of degree adverbs such as pretty or quite or rather is "very" or "a bit". It can only really be guessed from the context. However, in real speech our interpretation of these adverbs depends on the stress we use.
In examples like the Original Poster's, these adverbs are used to modify adjectives. For example:
- pretty good
- quite interesting
- rather long
- fairly thorough
These adverbs have a meaning of "X, but not very, very X".
There are two parts of this meaning that we can emphasise: the fact that something is X - or the fact that it's not very, very X.
If we stress the adverb, it emphasises that it wasn't very, very good, very interesting, very short, or very thorough:
- It was pretty good.
- It was quite interesting.
- It was rather long.
- It was fairly thorough.
However, if we stress the adjective, then it emphasises that it was, indeed, X:
- It was pretty good.
- It was quite interesting.
- It was rather long.
- It was fairly thorough.
In these examples, because we hear the adjective as stressed, our interpretation of these degree adverbs is something similar to very.
Hope this is helpful!