Literary notes about pretty (AI summary)
The word pretty is remarkably versatile, used not only to denote physical beauty but also to convey a sense of moderation or degree. It frequently appears as an adjective to describe charming appearances or appealing qualities, such as a girl’s allure or the delicate hues of flowers ([1], [2], [3], [4]). At the same time, pretty functions as an adverb, subtly modifying verbs and adjectives to imply that something is moderately so—expressions like being “pretty good” at a task or in a particular state of affairs appear in various narratives ([5], [6], [7]). In dialogues and character interactions, it lends a conversational tone that can be both endearing and gently ironic, enriching the texture of literary language ([8], [9], [10]).
- Cotton has pretty white and red flowers on it.
— from The Story of My Life by Helen Keller - In the meantime, the pretty girl stood there, gazing at him with her big eyes, and holding out her tambourine to him and waiting.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo - ‘Ah! pretty princess!’ thought she, ‘what will now become of thee?’
— from Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm - I brought you here to tell me if the child will grow up pretty and fortunate.’
— from The Red Fairy Book - Adv. slightly &c. adj.; rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - I have a head for things like chess and puzzles, and I used to reckon myself pretty good at finding out cyphers.
— from The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan - “Well, they’ve got that; and it makes me feel pretty silly to think how they got it.”
— from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - Be quiet, my pretty boy, eat a sweetmeat.”
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - But I do waltz (pretty well, too, as it happens), and I take Miss Larkins out.
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - We had a hot supper—and I wanted it pretty badly—and then drank grog in a big cheery smoking-room with a crackling wood fire.
— from The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
