pretty

/ˈpɹɪt.i/

//ˈpɹɪt.i// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"pretty" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pretty” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #416. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#416
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pretty · pretty · English

pretty · rank #416 · 8 variants · 12 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #416
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 12 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH matter

Nearest frequency peer: matter (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “pretty”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “pretty” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

pretty vs prey
67% similar
pretty vs putty
67% similar
pretty vs petty
83% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for pretty
PropertyValue
Headwordpretty
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈpɹɪt.i/
Letters6
Frequency rank#416
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “pretty”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).prettylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “matter” (#415), “remember” (#417), “john” (#414). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “pretty” is #416. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around pretty (IPA /ˈpɹɪt.i/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #416 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for pretty, with forms such as "pertty", "ppretty", and "prettyy". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "prey", "putty", "petty", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English prety, preti, praty, prati, from Old English prættiġ (“tricky, crafty, sly, cunning, wily, astute”), from Proto-West Germanic *prattug, from Proto-Germanic *prattugaz (“boastful, sly, slick, deceitful, tricky, cunning”), corresponding to… The correct English form is pretty, spelled P-R-E-T-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
  2. 2
    Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing.
  3. 3
    Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty.
  4. 4
    Effeminate.
  5. 5
    Cunning; clever, skilful.
  6. 6
    Moderately large; considerable.
  7. 7
    Excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.).
  8. 8
    Awkward, unpleasant, bad.
  9. 9
    Matching commonly accepted principles of formatting and syntax, for the sake of readability.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how pretty appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Having brought it to a close, he took his way to the Kursaal. The great German watering-place is one of the prettiest nooks in Europe, and of a summer evening in the gaming days, five-and-twenty years ago, it was one of the most brilliant scenes.
  2. Hal Smith, manager of the Ferry Field theatre, Detroit, one of the largest and prettiest outskirt houses in town, played Metro's "Revelation" for three days last week

Etymology

From Middle English prety, preti, praty, prati, from Old English prættiġ (“tricky, crafty, sly, cunning, wily, astute”), from Proto-West Germanic *prattug, from Proto-Germanic *prattugaz (“boastful, sly, slick, deceitful, tricky, cunning”), corresponding to prat (“trick”) + -y. Doublet of pratty. Cognate with Dutch prettig (“nice, pleasant”), Low German prettig (“funny”), Icelandic prettugur (“deceitful, tricky”). For the semantic development, compare canny, clever, cute.

Antonyms

ugly

This word in other languages

listo(Español)joli(Français)anmutig(Deutsch)bonito(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • pertty
  • ppretty
  • prettyy
  • prety
  • pretyt
  • prretty
  • prtety
  • rpetty

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pretty - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

pertty2ppretty1prettyy1prety1pretyt2prretty1prtety2rpetty2
Edit distance from "pretty"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "pretty"?
"pretty" is spelled P-R-E-T-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɹɪt.i/.
What does "pretty" mean?
As an adjective, "pretty" means: Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
What words are commonly confused with "pretty"?
"pretty" is commonly confused with "prey", "putty", "petty". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pretty"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pretty" is /ˈpɹɪt.i/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "pretty"?
From Middle English prety, preti, praty, prati, from Old English prættiġ (“tricky, crafty, sly, cunning, wily, astute”), from Proto-West Germanic *prattug, from Proto-Germanic *prattugaz (“boastful, sly, slick, deceitful, tricky, cunning”), corres... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pretty", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

matter#415friend#420anyone#411saying#426

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

wrong8 variantsknown8 variantscoming8 variantsseries8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list