Pretty is used to tone down a statement and is in wide use across the whole spectrum of english Experience luxury nail services today! It is common in informal speech and writing but is neither rare nor wrong in serious discourse.
Pleasing or attractive to the eye, as by delicacy or gracefulness. Pretty nails & cocktails offers manicures, pedicures See examples of pretty used in a sentence.
… that's a pretty hat you're wearing The sofa was covered in very pretty flowery material She's got such a pretty daughter She looked pretty in a simple cotton dress.
When particularly stressed, the adverb pretty serves almost to diminish the adjective or adverb that it modifies, by emphasizing that there are greater levels of intensity. Use the word pretty to describe something with a delicate and pleasant appearance Something that’s pretty is less powerful and intimidating than something that’s beautiful, the way a pretty floral raincoat is less intimidating than a beautiful film star. In a delicate or graceful way
A pretty little cabin in the woods. There are 20 meanings listed in oed's entry for the word pretty, four of which are labelled obsolete See ‘meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
