Definition of "pretty"

The face which emerged was not reassuring. […]. He was not a mongol but there was a deficiency of a sort there, and it was not made more pretty by a latter-day hair cut which involved eccentrically long elf-locks and oiled black curls.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess‎

To escape a violent beating from sailors to whom he has sold a non-functioning car, Jerry takes his stepfamily for a holiday in a trailer park miles away, where, miraculously, young Nick meets a very pretty young woman called Sheeni, played by Portia Doubleday.

2010 February 4, Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

'Petit Posy' brassicas […] are a cross between kale and brussels sprouts, and are really very pretty with a mild, sweet taste.

2010 February 13, Lia Leendertz, The Guardian

Damned by the Socialists as "traitors to the working class," its leaders were decried by Tories as "faceless peddlers of politics with a pretty little trinket for every taste."

1962 September 28, “New Life for the Liberals”, in Time

In the end, however, it was a very pretty shot, right across the chasm; killed first fire, and the brute fell headlong into the brook […] .

1877, George Hesekiel, Bayard Taylor, Bismarck his Authentic Biography, page 380

they flung all the goods in the house out at the windows into the street, or into the sea, as they supposed; thus they continued mad a pretty season […].

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, partition I, section 2, member 4, subsection vii

"What did you do to your hair?" The answer could be worth a pretty penny for L'Oreal.

2004 January 26, “Because They're Worth it”, in Time

Some people are surprised, I believe, that that the eldest was not [named after his father], but Isabella would have him named Henry, which I thought very pretty of her.

1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], Emma: […], volumes (please specify |volume=I, II or III), London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray

‘This new fashion of introducing the candidate's children into an election contest is a pretty one,’ said Mrs. Panstreppon; ‘it takes away something from the acerbity of party warfare, and it makes an interesting experience for the children to look back on in after years.’

1919, Saki, ‘The Oversight’, The Toys of Peace

"Oh, Jake." Brett said, "we could have had such a damned good time together." Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed suddenly pressing Brett against me. "Yes", I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?"

1926, Ernest Hemingway, The sun also rises, page 251

"Nay, not I; it is a pretty thing to expect me to wash them; you may take them back again, and say, as Sally had them before, she may wash them now, for me; I am not going to be 'Jack at a pinch,' I can tell you."

1839, The Cottager's Monthly Visitor, volume 19, page 270

A pretty thing it would be if a man of business had to examine every cab-horse before he hired it

1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

His sadistic self-torturings finally landed him in a pretty mess: still completely married, practically sure he was in love with Tillie, he made dishonorable proposals of marriage to two other women.

1931 January 26, “Done to a Turn”, in Time

" […] you can still see where the kid's face is swollen up from this talk: couple of black eyes, lip all busted up, nose over sideways," Driscoll shook his head again, "just a real pretty picture."

1995, Les Standiford, Deal to die for, page 123

By the Sheets you have sent me to peruse, the Account you have given of her Birth and Parentage is pretty exact [...].

1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of Sally Salisbury, section V

Pauſanias's account is related pretty faithfully there, if we except two errors, one, that Arcas an Olympian mixed ſome Hippomanes with the brazen ſtatue, the other that he caſt a mare.

1741, [Pierre] Bayle, “A Dissertation Concerning the Hippomanes”, in John Peter Bernard, Thomas Birch, John Lockman, et al., transl., A General Dictionary, Historical and Critical: […], volume X, London: […] James Bettenham, for G[eorge] Strahan, J. Clarke, […], page 361

It seems pretty clear that organic beings must be exposed during several generations to the new conditions of life to cause any appreciable amount of variation [...].

1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, chapter 1, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […]

I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients

The Revolutionary decade was a pretty challenging time for business.

2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 539

'The boy sings pretty, don't he, Master Marner?'

1861, George Eliot, Silas Marner, London: Penguin Books, published 1967, page 139

I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!

1939, Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf, The Wizard of Oz

He sat on the hearth rug and began prettying the dog's coat.

2007, Eric Knight, Lassie Come-Home‎, page 29