PRETTYING
Verb
prettying
present participle of pretty
Source: Wiktionary
PRETTY
Pret"ty, a. [Compar. Prettier; superl. Prettiest.] Etym: [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. [Scot.]
[He] observed they were pretty men, meaning not handsome. Sir W.
Scott.
Syn.
– Elegant; neat; fine. See Handsome.
Pret"ty, adv.
Definition: In some degree; moderately; considerably; rather; almost; --
less emphatic than very; as, I am pretty sure of the fact; pretty
cold weather.
Pretty plainly professes himself a sincere Christian. Atterbury.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition