Handsome vs. Pretty
Handsome and Pretty Definitions
Handsome
Pleasing in form or appearance, especially having strong or distinguished features
A handsome man.
A woman with a handsome face.
Pretty
Pleasing or attractive in a graceful or delicate way.
Handsome
Having stately or attractive proportions or appearance; impressive
A handsome manor.
A sleek, handsome car.
Pretty
Clever; adroit
A pretty maneuver.
Handsome
Large in amount or measure; generous or considerable
A handsome reward.
Won by a handsome margin.
Pretty
Very bad; terrible
In a pretty predicament.
A situation that has reached a pretty pass.
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Handsome
Marked by or requiring skill or dexterity
Did some handsome maneuvers on the skating rink.
Pretty
Ostensibly or superficially attractive but lacking substance or conviction
Full of pretty phrases.
Handsome
Appropriate or fitting
A handsome location for the new school.
Pretty
(Informal) Considerable in size or extent
A pretty fortune.
Handsome
Having a pleasing appearance, good-looking, attractive, particularly
That is one handsome tree you've got there.
Pretty
To a fair degree; moderately
A pretty good student.
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Handsome
Attractively manly, having a pleasing face and overall effect.
I was tripping over his own feet coming in out of the surf.
Pretty
In a pretty manner; prettily or pleasingly.
Handsome
Statuesque, beautiful in a masculine or otherwise imposing way.
She was either handsome or her uniform created a flattering effect but—being very nearsighted—he couldn't tell from this distance.
Pretty
One that is pretty.
Handsome
Good, appealing, appropriate.
Pretty
Pretties Delicate clothing, especially lingerie.
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Handsome
(of weather) Fine, clear and bright.
Pretty
To make pretty
Pretty up the house.
Handsome
Suitable or fit in action; marked with propriety and ease; appropriate.
A handsome style
Pretty
Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
Handsome
Generous or noble in character.
Handsome is as handsome does.
Pretty
Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing.
Handsome
Ample; moderately large.
A handsome salary
Pretty
Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty.
Handsome
Dexterous; skillful.
Pretty
Cunning; clever, skilful.
Handsome
To render handsome.
Pretty
(dated) Moderately large; considerable.
Handsome
Dexterous; skillful; handy; ready; convenient; - applied to things as persons.
That they [engines of war] be both easy to be carried and handsome to be moved and turned about.
For a thief it is so handsome as it may seem it was first invented for him.
Pretty
(dated) Excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.).
Handsome
Agreeable to the eye or to correct taste; having a pleasing appearance or expression; attractive; having symmetry and dignity; comely; - expressing more than pretty, and less than beautiful; as, a handsome man or woman; a handsome garment, house, tree, horse.
Pretty
(ironic) Awkward, unpleasant.
Handsome
Suitable or fit in action; marked with propriety and ease; graceful; becoming; appropriate; as, a handsome style, etc.
Easiness and handsome address in writing.
Pretty
Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.
Handsome
Evincing a becoming generosity or nobleness of character; liberal; generous.
Handsome is as handsome does.
Pretty
(dialect) Prettily, in a pretty manner.
Handsome
Ample; moderately large.
He . . . accumulated a handsome sum of money.
Pretty
A pretty person; a term of address to a pretty person.
Handsome
To render handsome.
Pretty
Something that is pretty.
We'll stop at the knife store and look at the sharp pretties.
Handsome
Pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion;
A fine-looking woman
A good-looking man
Better-looking than her sister
Very pretty but not so extraordinarily handsome
Our southern women are well-favored
Pretty
To make pretty; to beautify
Handsome
Given or giving freely;
Was a big tipper
The bounteous goodness of God
Bountiful compliments
A freehanded host
A handsome allowance
Saturday's child is loving and giving
A liberal backer of the arts
A munificent gift
Her fond and openhanded grandfather
Pretty
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 everRan on the greensward.
Pretty
Moderately large; considerable; as, he had saved a pretty fortune.
Pretty
Affectedly nice; foppish; - used in an ill sense.
The pretty gentleman is the most complaisant in the world.
Pretty
Mean; despicable; contemptible; - used ironically; as, a pretty trick; a pretty fellow.
Pretty
Stout; strong and brave; intrepid; valiant.
[He] observed they were pretty men, meaning not handsome.
Pretty
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.
Pretty
Pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing;
Pretty girl
Pretty song
Pretty room
Pretty
(used ironically) unexpectedly bad;
A pretty mess
A pretty kettle of fish
Pretty
Used as an intensifier (`jolly' is used informally in Britain);
Pretty big
Pretty bad
Jolly decent of him
