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PlainSpell

pretty

/ˈpɹɪt.i/adjective, adverb, noun, verb

pretty is spelled P-R-E-T-T-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 240 times per million words in written English, the 417th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Pretty, the name). As an adjective, pretty means “Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in pretty?

Letters6: P-R-E-T-T-Y
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing240 times per million words; the 417th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is pretty?

Pretty appears 240 times per million words in written English, the 417th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Pretty, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce pretty?

  • UK /ˈpɹɪt.i/
  • US /ˈpɹɪt.i/
  • US [ˈpɹɪɾ.i]

Pretty has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pretty.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with pretty

Also written: purdy, purty.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with pretty?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pretty from its last stressed vowel (/ɪti/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of pretty

  • prettier comparative
  • prettiest superlative
  • pooty
  • purdy
  • purty
  • pretties plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • prettying participle, present
  • prettied participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does pretty mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  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

    derogatoryFine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty.

  4. 4

    UKderogatoryEffeminate.

  5. 5

    Cunning; clever, skilful.

  6. 6

    datedModerately large; considerable.

  7. 7

    datedExcellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.).

  8. 8

    Awkward, unpleasant, bad.

adverb

  1. 1

    Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.

  2. 2

    Prettily, in a pretty manner.

noun

  1. 1

    A pretty person; a term of address to a pretty person.

  2. 2

    Something that is pretty.

    We'll stop at the knife store and look at the sharp pretties.

verb

  1. 1

    To make pretty; to beautify

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate pretty?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of pretty: p.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Pretty in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Spanishlisto (cunning, clever, skilful), guapo, bonito (especially of women and children: pleasant…), bastante, bien (somewhat)
Frenchjoli (especially of women and children: pleasant…), assez, pas mal, plutôt (somewhat)
Germananmutig, attraktiv, charmant, hübsch, nett, niedlich (especially of women and children: pleasant…)
Portuguesebonito (especially of women and children: pleasant…), meio, bem, bastante (somewhat), belo (of objects: nice-looking), bonitinho (only superficially attractive)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does pretty come from?

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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after pretty