adj.
Pronunciation: ' pri-t ē , ' p ə r- also ' pru ̇ -; before “ near(ly) ” often ' p ə rt or ' prit or ' pru ̇ t
Function: adverb
Date: 1565
1 a : in some degree : MODERATELY < pretty cold weather> b : QUITE , MAINLY <the wound was ⋯ pretty bad ― Walt Whitman>
2 : in a pretty manner : PRETTILY <pop vocalists who can sing pretty ― Gerald Levitch>
– pretty much : MAINLY , LARGELY
usage Some handbooks complain that pretty is overworked and recommend the selection of a more specific word or restrict pretty to informal or colloquial contexts. Pretty is used to tone down a statement and is in wide use across the whole spectrum of English. It is common in informal speech and writing but is neither rare nor wrong in serious discourse <he may, if he be pretty well off or clever, qualify himself as a doctor ― G. B. Shaw> <a return to those traditions of American foreign policy which worked pretty well for over a century ― H. S. Commager> <the arguments for buying expensive books have to be pretty cogent ― Times Lit. Supp. >